The Price of Freedom
by DarkPhantom666
Summary: Rukia and Renji find Ichigo uconscious in the park, and it is determined that someone from the Seireitai is responsible. I suck at summaries Please just give it a chance! Rated for mild violence and possible character death
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. This story is purely for my own amusement...although hopefully some of you will enjoy it too. **

**The Price of Freedom:**

**Chapter 1:**

Renji and Rukia were enjoying a rare moment of quiet by taking a leisurely walk through Karakura Town, talking about the past and recent events in the Soul Society.

Suddenly, Rukia stopped walking, cocking her head to the side, as if she were listening to something. Renji kept walking until he realized that Rukia was not walking alongside him anymore, then he turned around to give her a quizzical stare.

Renji walked back to where Rukia was standing. "What's wrong?"

A look of realization came across Rukia's face, and she took off running in the direction they had come from. Startled by his companion's sudden urgency, Renji took off after her. He being so much taller than Rukia, he didn't have to run far before he had caught up with her.

Renji looked down at Rukia once he had caught up with her, and from the look on her face knew immediately that something was very wrong. "What the hell's going on, Rukia? Where are we going?" he questioned her as they ran.

"Can't you feel it?" Rukia asked, "it's Ichigo's spiritual pressure...but it's off. Something wrong. It's coming from the direction of the park."

Concentrating now, Renji could detect a familiar spiritual pressure, and knew that Rukia was right...it was Ichigo's. "it's his alright, but it's way weaker than what it should be." Renji, putting on a burst of speed, rushed into the entrance to the park, Rukia not far behind.

They both stopped simultaneously, trying to get a better grasp of exactly where Ichigo was located.

"His spiritual pressure is even weaker than just a few minutes ago." Renji commented, worry in his voice as his hand went unconsciously to the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

Rukia pointed to a grove of trees a few hundred yards away. "Over there." she said as she took off running again.

"Rukia, Wait!" Renji yelled as he took off after her. He had had an uncomfortable feeling since entering the park, and he didn't want to let Rukia out of his sight. "It could be dangerous."

Rukia made it to the grove of trees and began calling out. "Ichigo! Ichigo, where are..."

Rukia's voice cut out just as Renji came up behind her. With his hand still on the hilt of Zabimaru, he stepped up beside Rukia. He gasped.

Ichigo was lying, unmoving, in a puddle of blood at the base of a large sycamore tree.

**So what does everyone think so far? I've actually gotten about 6 chapters of this story so far, so I should be able to update rather regularly, depending on how often I can make it down to my Dad's house to use his internet connection to post the chapters. Let me know if I should continue the story or not! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"Ichigo!" Rukia exclaimed, running over to him and dropping to her knees, Renji not far behind. She put a hand in front of Ichigo's mouth.

"Is he breathing?" Renji asked as he kneeled down beside Rukia, his worry for Ichigo coloring his voice.

"Yeah...barely." Rukia said, dropping her hand to Ichigo's shoulder and gently shaking it. "Ichigo? Ichigo, can you hear me? Wake up."

Ichigo moaned slightly, opened his eyes, and tried to sit up. Rukia put a bit more pressure on his shoulder to prevent him from sitting up. "Ichigo, don;t try to sit up. You've been badly injured."

Ichigo's pain glazed eyes roamed until they focused on Rukia.

"Ichigo, what happened to you?" Rukia questioned, trying to get some information out of the half conscious Soul Reaper now that he was awake.

Ichigo continued to struggle until Rukia could not hold him anymore, and he sat up, holding his chest.

Ichigo's mouth attempted to form words, but then his eyes rolled up into his head, and he went limp, falling forward into unconsciousness.

Renji deftly leaped forward and caught Ichigo before he could do a face plant in the dirt. "Ichigo, wake up and tell us what happened to you. Ichigo, wake up damn it!"  
But no matter how much Renji yelled, Ichigo remained unconscious. Renji sat back on his haunches, still supporting Ichigo, and sighed. "This is bad." he commented, tilting his head back to look at Rukia. "We should get him to Urahara's shop and see if either him or Yourichi can do something to help him."

Renji gathered up Ichigo in his arms and stood. Ichigo moaned slightly and shifted in the Lieutenant's arms. Rukia's head snapped up, hopeful that Ichigo was going to wake up again, but he soon fell silent, unconsciousness taking him once again.

Using their flash step, Rukia and Renji were able to make it to Urahara's shop in a little over 3 minutes. Renji held Ichigo close to him throughout the journey, so as not to jostle him and aggrivate his wounds. Ichigo stayed unconscious, to which Renji was extremely grateful. He He didn't want to imagine the pain that he would have been in had he been awake. By the time they got to Urahara's shop, Ichigo had started shaking and his breathing had become labored. They entered the shop, and Renji kicked the door closed with his foot before following Rukia through the aisles to the back of the store.

Not seeing the shop owner anywhere in the front of the store, the group proceeded to the back, where Urahara's sleeping quarters were.

"Urahara!" Rukia shouted. "Get out here. We need you right now!"

They heard a scuffling sound coming from behind the closed door, and a couple seconds later, Urahara's head popped out. "Okay, I'm coming. You don't have to be so..." He faltered when he saw Ichigo in Renji's arms.

Yourichi, in her cat form, stepped around Urahara and also faltered at the sight before her.

"What happened to him?" Yourichi exclaimed.

Renji side-stepped Urahara and Yoruichi and entered the room, laying Ichigo down on Urahara's sleep mat.

Just like he had done when Renji had picked him up back at the park, Ichigo moaned slightly, and everyone else turned their attention to him, but Ichigo soon fell silent again, his breathing heavy and shallow.

"Are either of you going to answer my question?" Yoruichi demanded. "What the hell happened to him?"

"We wish we knew." Rukia responded, her gaze never leaving Ichigo's still form even though she was addressing Yoruichi. "Renji and I were just taking a walk and talking when I sensed Ichigo's spiritual pressure, but it was weaker than what it usually is, so we tracked it to a clearing in the park. That's where we found him. Whatever did this to him was gone by the time we got there."

Yoruichi immediately took charge. "Kisuke, see if you can get Orihime on the phone. We are going to need her Soten Kishune to help heal Ichigo. While you're at it, see if you can contact Chad and Uryu too. We may need their help taking down whatever did this to Ichigo."

Yourichi left the room and walked down the hall as Urahara went to the front of the store to the phone. They both returned a few minutes later, Yourichi now in her human form, and she was rolling up the sleeves of her shirt.

"Renji, there are bandages in the bathroom." Urahara said as he and Yourichi went to Ichigo's side. "I got a hold of Chad, Orihime, and Uryu. They're on their way. I didn't tell them why."

Yourichi and Urahara started undressing Ichigo trying to get a better idea as to where and why he was bleeding so profusely. They both gasped at what their inspection had uncovered.

Ichigo had stab wounds through his right shoulder and his lower abdomen, as well as several slashes covering his upper body.

"Dammit, what the hell happened to him?" Yoruichi said under her breath, low enough so that only Urahara could hear.

"The wounds to his abdomen and his shoulder..." Urahara stopped there, glancing back at Rukia, who was still standing by the doorway, but she was no longer looking at Ichigo. "...these are stab wounds. Ad we all know that there's only one kind of weapon that can harm a Soul Reaper."  
Yoruichi looked up from where she was examining Ichigo's wounds to glance at Urahara. "You don't think..."

"I don;t know for sure..but it certainly looks that way to me." Urahara responded.

Renji returned to the room, carrying a large amount of bandages and other medical supplies under one arm and balancing a pan of water on his other hand. He took both over to Yoruichi and Urahara.

Catching sight of Ichigo's wounds for the first time, a look of realization came over Renji's face. "It looks to me like some of those wounds were made by a..."

Yoruichi cut him off with a sharp glance and a slight shake of her head. Renji shut up immediately...

...but not fast enough. Rukia looked up at Renji's sudden silence. "The wounds look like they were made by a...what?"

Renji stuttered and stammered, trying to come up with an answer, but he didn't want Rukia to worry any more than she clearly already was.

The opening and closing of a door and several pairs of muffled footsteps alerted the group that someone had entered the shop.

"Hello?" Orihime's voice drifted back to them from the front of the store. "We're here. Where is everybody? Urahara?"

Yoruichi looked up from her ministrations on Ichigo to glance at Renji and Rukia. "Someone should go explain to them what's going on so it's not so much of a shock when they see Ichigo like this."

"Well, this should be interesting." Renji muttered as he made his way towards the door, but Rukia put a hand on is arm, preventing him from going any further.

"I'll do it." Rukia said quietly, and without another word, left, closing the door with a soft snap.

Urahara glanced at Renji. "What's her issue?" he questioned with his usual tactfulness.

Renji was staring at the door. "She blames herself for what happened to Ichigo."  
Yoruichi once again glanced up from where she was bandaging Ichigo's wounds to stare at Renji. "Why on earth does she blame herself? She wasn't there when Ichigo was attacked. And besides, Ichigo is extremely powerful. Rukia knows that he can take care of himself. So why does she..."

Renji finally tore his eyes away from the door to look Yoruichi straight in the eye. "She knows all of that. But Rukia once told me that if her and Ichigo had never met, and she had never given him her Soul Reaper powers..."

"...he wouldn't keep getting hurt, because he never would have known that Soul Reapers existed, let alone becoming one himself." Yoruichi finished for him.

Renji nodded.

"But her reasoning is flawed." Yoruichi continued. "The Hollows were after Ichigo before he became a Soul Reaper, because of his innate Spiritual Pressure. So, with that fact in mind, turning him into a Soul Reaper and training him to use his Spiritual Pressure was probably the one thing that saved his life."

Renji nodded again. "I understand all that, but try explaining it to Rukia."

Yoruichi had been continuing to tend to Ichigo's wounds as she spoke to Renji, but now she sat back with a sigh. "The rest is going to be up to Orihime. I didn't wanna say this in front of Rukia, but I'm not sure if Ichigo is going to survive."

**Okay folks...that chapter was a little longer that the first one. Hopefully, I can get a new chapters posted for this story every week. So go to the little button that says review at the end of this page and tell me what you think of this story! Until next time! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Orihime, Chad and Uryu entered Urahara's shop.

"Hello!" Orihime called out to the empty store. "We're here. Where is everyone?"

When they received no response from anyone, the three teenagers turned to each other.

"Where is everyone?" Orihime questioned.

"They're probably in the back of the store. Come one." Uryu turned and headed in that direction, with Chad not far behind. But they both stopped and turned to look when they realized that Orihime was not following them.

"What's wrong Orihime?"

Orihime looked right at Uryu. "Ichigo's here, but something's wrong. His spiritual pressure is weak." Without waiting for a response from wither of her companions, she ran towards the back of the store.

Before she could make it to the door separating the front and the back of the store, it opened, and Rukia stepped out, shutting the door behind her.

Orihime skidded to a stop before she could run straight into the veteran Soul Reaper. She looked at Rukia and was shocked at what she saw. She had never seen Rukia looking so sad before, not even when she had been on the brink of her execution in the Soul Society.

"Rukia, what's going on? Something's happened to Ichigo, hasn't it?" Orihime questioned. Chad and Uryu looked on waiting for the answer as well.

Rukia was in no way surprised that the girl standing before her knew that something had happened to Ichigo. Orihime, especially, seemed particularly sensitive to any change in Ichigo;s spiritual pressure. "He's been badly injured." She told the three teenagers, already anticipating their response to the bombshell she had just dropped on them.

Uryu, who had gotten distracted by an item on the shelf next to him, turned his head back to Rukia at her words. "How?" He asked, shocked. "What happened to him?"

"We're not sure exactly what happened to him. Renji and I were just walking anf talking when we sensed his spiritual pressure. We found him, unconscious, in a clearing in the park, so Renji and I brought him here." She turned her attention to Orihime. "We're hoping you can use your Soten Kisshun to help heal him." She lokced eyes with Orihime, trying to guage her reaction.

Orihime had tears in her eyes, but kept herself composed. "Of course. Whatever I ca do to help Ichigo."

Rukia nodded.

Uryu cleared his throat. "Not that I'm not glad that you called me to tell me what's going on, because I am, but why exactly am I here?"

Beside Uryu, Chad nodded. He had been wondering the exact same thing.

Rukia turned her attention to them. "We were hoping you'd be willing to help track down and kill whatever it was that attacked Ichigo."

Chad nodded his head again, this time in agreement to Rukia's words. Uryu, on the other hand, cast his eyes downward, looking uncomfortable, which didn't go unnoticed by the Soul Reaper.

"What's wrong, Uryu?" Rukia asked the Quincy.

"Your response to my question works for Chad, but not for me." Uryu said quietly, not meeting Rukia's gaze while he spoke. "I don't have my Quincy powers anymore. What help am I going to be?"

"True/" Rukia said calmly, and she saw Uryu flinch, as though she had just slapped him. "But you're still able to sense spiritual pressure, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, of course, but I still don't see how I'll be any..."

"If you can sense spiritual pressure, then you can help." Rukia commented. "Come on, Orihime. Let's get you back so you can help Ichigo."

Giving Uryu one last, long look, Rukia turned and headed back through the door to the back of the shop. Orihime, Chad and Uryu followed.

While Rukia was in the front of the store explaining the situation to Orihime, Chad and Uryu, Renji, Yoruichi and Urahara were holding their own conversation in the back.

As soon as Rukia shut the door and Renji could no longer hear her retreating footsteps, he spoke. "Are the two of you thinking the same thing I am about those wounds that Ichigo has?"

Urahara spoke up from where he was standing in the corner of the room, his ever-present fan open and in hid hand. "If you're thinking that his wounds came from a Zanpaku-to, then yes, we're both thinking the same thing."

"That makes three of us then." Yoruichi spoke up from her position on the floor next to Ichigo's still form. "So we're all thinking that a Soul Reaper did this, then?"

"But that doesn't make any sense?" Renji practically shouted, his frustration finally bubbling to the surface. "If one of the Soul Reapers in the Soul Society had gone rouge and somehow made is way to the World of the Living without being apprehended, surely someone from the Soul Society would have contacted us to warn us, or sent a team over to deal with it, and Rukia and I have not heard anything from them in weeks. Besides, why would they target Ichigo?" He turned to Yoruichi. "Have you heard anything from Soi Fon?"

Yoruichi shook her head.

The three of them sat in silence for a minute, the only sound in the room coming from Ichigo, who was panting slightly.

Suddenly Renji spoke, making Yoruichi and Urahara jump slightly. "Wait a minute! What about Aizen or Ichimaru? They both have reasons for going after Ichigo."

"Doubtful." Urahara said. "Aizen probably has Ichimaru on a short leash, keeping him in Hueco Mundo until he can fully harness the power of the hygyokku."

"Do you think we should tell Rukia about our suspicions concerning Ichigo's wounds?" Renji asked, directing the question towards Yoruichi.

Yoruichi thought about it for a long moment before responding. "I'll pull her aside and talk to her while Orihime attempts to heal Ichigo. Even though it may hurt her to know, I think she has a right to know the truth. Everyone needs to know what we may be up against.

Renji opened his mouth to comment, but before he could, the door to the room slid open, and Rukia walked in, followed by Orihime, Chad and Uryu.

"Oh, Ichigo." Orihime whispered, catching her first glimpse as to the extent of Ichigo's wounds. 'I don't think Ichigo even looked this bad after fighting Byakuya in the Soul Society.' she thought. Nothing Rukia said could have prepared her for how bad her friend looked. She barely even registered Uryu's slight gasp of surprise at seeing Ichigo's condition.

"Orihime." Yoruichi said gently, standing up and walking over to the girl. When Orihime didn't raise her head to look at her, Yoruichi put a finger underneath her chin and raised her head until Orihime's tear-filled eyes met her own. "Orihime, I know it's hard to see him like this." Yoruichi began, and she saw the girl's eyes unconsciously glance over at Ichigo's still form before looking back at her. "But right now Ichigo needs your help or he's probably not going to survive. He needs you to be strong. Can you do that for him?"

Instead of answering, Orihime pulled away from Yoruichi's hand and walked slowly over to Ichigo's side.

Six sets of eyes were watching her as Orihime knelt down beside Ichigo. No more than a minute had passed and Orihime had used her spiritual pressure to put up a healing shield around Ichigo's still unconscious form.

Yoruichi smiled briefly at the girl, then turned her attention to Rukia, who was standing in the corner of the room, staring at Ichigo with a slightly pained expression on her face. "Rukia, can I speak to you in the other room for a moment?"

Rukia reluctantly tore her gaze away from Ichigo to give Yourichi a questioning look. As Yourichi started across the room towards the door, Rukia focused her gaze on Renji, hoping to get a clue from him as to why Yourichi wanted to talk to her, but Renji suspiciously and pointedly avoided her gaze.

Rukia shrugged. "Sure." She finally replied, taking one last glance at Ichigo before moving towards the door.

She followed Yourichi out the door to another one at the end of the hall.

Yourichi opened the door and motioned for Rukia to go on in ahead of her. Once Rukia stepped into the room, Yourichi stepped in as well, flipped a switch by the door to turn on the light, and shut the door behind her.

Rukia found herself in a large storage room, with shelves covering three of the walls and boxes lined up on those shelves. She turned to face Yourichi only to find the woman staring at her intently.

Rukia's patience quickly ran out when Yourichi did nothing but continue to stand across the room and stare at her. Finally, Rukia spoke up. "What's the mater, Yourichi? Now tat Orihime is here and taking care of Ichigo, I want to take Renji, Chad and Uruy back with me to the spot where Ichigo was attacked and see if we can find any clues as to who is responsible for doing this to him."

"That's exactly what I was going to suggest that you do." Yourichi responded. "But I wanted to talk to you about something first. You need to stop blaming yourself every time something bad happens to Ichigo."  
"How did you..?"

"it's written all over your face. I was watching you in the other room. You couldn't take your eyes off of Ichigo...and it happens every time he's been injured. I've been meaning to talk to you about it for quite some time. Now seemed like a good time to do so." Yourichi was not totally lying as she said this. She just didn't tell Rukia the whole truth. It was true that Renji had brought up the issue...but that didn't mean that he hadn't noticed it before herself"

Rukia opened her mouth, presumably to protest, but Yoruichi cut her off. "Don't talk. Just listen for a moment. I know you blame yourself every time Ichigo gets hurt because you're the one that turned him into a Soul Reaper in the first place...and I cant say that I blame you for feeling the way you do..."

Yourichi saw Rukia grimace at that last statement, as surely as if she had just reached out and slapped her,

"...but that doesn't mean that I agree with you."

"I know two things for a fact." Yoruichi continued. "The first one being that by turning Ichigo into a Soul Reaper, you more than likely saved his life. You once told me that when you first met Ichigo, the hollows were targeting him specifically, because of his immense spiritual pressure. So by turning him into a Soul Reaper, you gave him the ability to gain the knowledge and the powers to defend and protect himself and those around him."

"The second fact is that when Byakuya stabbed Ichigo and stripped him of his Soul Reaper powers when he and Renji came to take you back to the Soul Society, Ichigo could have decided to return to being a normal human...bye he didn't...for two reasons. You already know the first reason. He wanted to regain his powers so that he could come and rescue you from being executed."

"But the other reason, the reason that someone who has never lost their powers could not truly understand, is that Ichigo had seen far to many things to go on living like he did before you gave him your powers. You opened his eyes to another world, and, even though regaining his Soul Reaper powers meant risking his life, he knew that he couldn't live his life being ignorant anymore."

"Do you understand now? You know, if you were having this conversation with Ichigo, he would be telling you the same thing."

Rukia just stood there, blinking.

Yourichi smiled slightly. "Okay, I'm done ranting now. You can speak."  
Rukia smiled then. It was a small smile...but it was a start. "Thank you, Yourichi." She said in a voice barely above a whisper. But she meant those three words from the bottom of her heart.

The two women stood, staring at each other for a few seconds, the Yoruichi cleared her throat. "There's something else I brought you in here to talk about."

Rukia saw Yoruichi hesitate, which worried her more than anything. "Yoruichi, what is it? Whatever is going on, just tell me."

Yoruichi sighed. "Urahara, Renji and I think we may have found out who did this to Ichigo."

Rukia gasped. "You did? That's...wait...did you say 'who?' You mean, this wasn't a hollow attack?"

Yoruichi didn't respond immediately. She knew Rukia well enough by now to know that she wanted to figure this out by herself, so she stayed silent.

"If you all suspect that it wasn't a hollow attack...and you said 'who' not 'what' then that means...you can't mean that you think that..." Rukia gasped again, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in shock.

"Based on the wounds Ichigo received, we think it's entirely possible that he was attacked by a Soul Reaper." Yoruichi finished for her. "The wounds Ichigo received to his abdomen and right shoulder appear to be stab wounds. And since the only sword that can injure a Soul Reaper is a Zanpakuto..." She trailed off, trying to gauge Rukia's reaction to this new development.

Yoruichi watched a million different emotions play across Rukia's features...betrayal, hurt, sadness...then finally anger. When Rukia looked up at Yoruichi, there was fire in her eyes. "Why would another Soul Reaper want to hurt Ichigo?" She said in a deadly quiet voice that barely concealed the anger that she felt.

"We're not sure...but that explanation is the one that makes the most sense right now."  
"Whoever did this to Ichigo is going to pay...Soul Reaper or not." Rukia replied.

"Good to see some of that old determination coming back. If our suspicions are correct, and it was a Soul Reaper who did this to Ichigo, and he couldn't take them down, then we're all going to need to pull together to track and kill this person." Yoruichi started for the door. "Come on. Let's get back and see how the others are doing."

**Okay another chapter done. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks! Until next time :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Yoruichi and Rukia entered the room where everyone else was assembled. All conversation ceased as Yoruichi went over to Orihime, who still had her Soten Kisshun up around Ichigo, to see how the young girl was holding up.

Rukia went over to stand next to Renji, who was hanging out in a corner of the room.

Renji glanced over at Rukia as she approached and gave her a small smile, to which Rukia reciprocated by punching him in the arm.

"Ow!" Renji exclaimed. "What the hell was that for?"

Rukia glanced up at the older Soul Reaper. "For telling Yoruichi about the conversation we had when you were rescuing me from Sokyokou Hill."

Renji shot an accusatory glance in Yoruichi's direction, but she was busy talking to Orihime, and didn't notice the look that Renji was giving her.

Another smack to Renji's arm brought his attention back to Rukia. She was glaring at him, and he could tell from the look that she was giving him that his glance in Yoruichi's direction did not go unnoticed by her.

"I'm no dummy." Rukia continued, somehow managing to glare down her nose at Renji even though he had at least a foot on her height-wise. "Yoruichi may have told me that she figured it out on her own, which is partly true...but something tells me she had a little help. You told her, didn't you?"

Renji looked sheepish as he said. "Well...yeah, I did." He said the next part in a rush. "But only because I was worried about you." He shut his eyes and tensed up, preparing himself for the onslaught from Rukia...

...but the blows never came. Renji cracked one eye open and peeked down at Rukia to find that she was smirking at him. "Quit smiling like that. It's creepy."

Rukia dropped the smirk, but her eyes never left Renji's. "Thank you." she finally said quietly.

Renji's eyes opened wide in shock. "What did you just say?"

Rukia did take another swing at him then. "You heard me. Don't make me repeat it. You cared enough about me to sic Yoruichi on me so...thank you."

Rukia then walked away without another word, leaving Renji staring after her, mouth open in shock. She walked across the room to stand beside Yoruichi, who was watching Orihime as she continued to heal Ichigo. "How's he doing?"

Rukia had asked Yoruichi the question, but it was Orihime who responded. "His wounds are very serious, but I'm certain that he's going to be okay." She said it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her.

An audible sigh of relief went up from everyone in the room at Orihime's words.

Urahara, who had been standing in a corner of the room, walked to the center of the room, opening his ever-present fan with a snap. All eyes in the room trained on him as he spoke. "Now that we;re sure that Ichigo is going to survive, we need to move on to the issue of who it was that attacked him in the first place." He glanced at Yoruichi, who nodded.

"Based on what we've seen from Ichigo's wounds," Yoruichi continued where Urahara left off. "we've come to the the conclusion that a Soul Reaper was the one who attacked him."

Chad, Orihime, and Uryu, being the only ones left in the room who had not heard this suspicion until now, gasped.

"A Soul Reaper?" Uryu exclaimed. "Why would anyone in the Seireitai want to attack Ichigo? Most of them feel indebted to him for rescuing Rukia when she was scheduled to be executed." He noticed Rukia wince slightly at his words. "Sorry." he added glancing at Rukia and offering a small, sympathetic smile.

Rukia nodded, smiling back. "Apology accepted."

"is it Aizen?" Chad asked with his usual shortness, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Highly unlikely." Uryu said, just as Urahara opened his mouth to answer. "Aizen has not unlocked the full power of the hygyoku yet. It's doubtful that he'll make a move until then."

"What he said." Urahara said, pointing to Uryu.

Uryu smiled as he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"So...if it wasn't Aizen, then who?" Renji blurted out, having finally recovered from Rukia's unusual behavior. "like Uryu said, who else in the Seireitai would have a problem with Ichigo?"

"Why don't you all go back to where Rukia and Renji found Ichigo this morning, and see if you can't find some clues as to who might have done this to him?" Yoruichi suggested, knowing full well that none of the group in front of her would be content to just wait around until Ichigo regained consciousness. "Meanwhile, I will contact Soi Fon and see if she has any information from the Soul Society that can shed some light on this situation. Urahara and I will watch over Ichigo until he wakes up; one he does, he can hopefully remember something that can help us figure out what happened to him."

Everyone nodded, relieved at finally having some kind of plan to help Ichigo.

Everyone felt a sudden drop in spiritual pressure, and turned in time to see the orange glow drop from around Ichigo/ Orihime stood, but swayed on her feet, exhausted from using her Soten Kisshun for so long.

Yoruichi wrapped an arm around Orihime's waist to steady her. "Are you alright, Orihime?" she questioned, her concern for the young girl coloring her voice.

"Yeah." Orihime nodded. "Just a little tired."

"Maybe you should stay here and rest while the others go out and search for clues." Yoruichi suggested, even though she already knew the response she would get.

Orihime shook her head vehemently. "Oh no. I'm fine. Really." she pulled away from Yoruichi's steadying grip and headed towards the door where Renji, Rukia, Chad and Uryu were exiting. "See you later."

"Wait a minute, everyone!" Yoruichi called out.

"What now?" Renji grumbled irritably, until Rukia elbowed him in the ribs. The rest of the group stopped as well.

"What's up now Yoruichi? We're losing daylight." Rukia commented.

"My point exactly." Yoruichi replied. At everyone's confused glances, she continued. "It's getting late, so I want all of you back here before dark. We don't know who it is we're dealing with, so I don't want to take any chances. Make sure you contact us if you find anything...and be careful...stay on alert for anything. Whoever attacked Ichigo could still be around that area."

"Don't worry. We'll be careful." Rukia called over her shoulder as the group headed out of the room.

Yoruichi sighed, then turned to Urahara. "Keep an eye on him." she said, pointing over her shoulder at where Ichigo lay, who was now breathing more steadily. "I'm going to go contact Soi Fon."

The sun was just beginning to go down as Renji, Rukia, Orihime, Chad and Uryu walked onto the street from Urahara's shop and made their way to the park.

Uryu fell into step beside Orihime. "Are you sure you're up to coming with us, Orihime?" He and the young girl had spent a considerable amount of time together in the Soul Society, and they had formed a very strong bond. Uryu now noticed that Orihime's walk was still a little unsteady and her eyes were drooping closed.

"Oh, yes, Uryu. I'm fine. Please don't worry about me." Orihime turned to look at him. "Honestly, I'm fine."

"Okay...if you're sure." Uryu replied, expecting nothing less from the girl walking beside him. He then raised his voice and shouted to Renji and Rukia, who was walking several paces in front of the rest of the group. "What exactly are we doing again?"

Renji looked back over his shoulder at Uryu, Orihime and Chad. "We're heading to where we found Ichigo to see if we can find any other clues as to what happened to him, who did this to him, or why they did it."

"We're also hoping that maybe Uryu can sense the spiritual pressure of the Soul Reaper who attacked Ichigo." Rukia smiled slightly at the ex-Quincy, who smiled back.

They walked on in silence until they arrived at the entrance to the park, where Renji led the way to where they found Ichigo that morning.

They came to the clearing where they found Ichigo, and everyone stood in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.

The ground in the clearing in front of them was splattered with Ichigo's blood, with a large, coagulating pool of it where he had lost consciousness.

Uryu spoke up, directing his comment to Renji and Rukia. "Ichigo's lucky that you two found him when you did. He couldn't have lost much more blood and still survived."  
Chad nodded his head in agreement.

"Are you sensing any spiritual pressure, Uryu?" Rukia asked.

Uryu nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm sensing two different pressures. One of them is Ichigo's obviously...but the other one...it feels familiar, but I can't..." he broke off, trying to figure out where he had felt that spiritual pressure before.

Rukia nodded. "Alright, Uryu. That's fine. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. Split up everyone. Keep your eyes open for any clues."

They had been searching for only a moment or two when Uryu's voice suddenly broke the silence from behind some bushes at the edge of the clearing. "Hey, guys! Over here!"

The others rushed over to where Uryu was kneeling down. As they got closer, they saw what Uryu had found...Ichigo's body.

"in the rush to get Ichigo to Urahara's shop, I never gave a thought about what happened to Ichigo's body, seeing as we found him as a Soul Reaper." Rukia commented thoughtfully. "I keep telling him that he needs to stop relying on his substitute combat pass so much. He's lucky that, apparently, no one has been around this clearing, or they would have found his..." She trailed off, a strange look creeping onto her face.

"What's the mater, Rukia?" Orihime questioned.

"It's just that...if Ichigo used his combat pass, then...where is Kon?"

Orihime glanced around, then spotted something brown against the green of the bushes. She knelt down to investigate, and with the rest of them watching, reached underneath the brush and pulled out the stuffed lion Kon inhabited when he was not taking over Ichigo's body. "I don't think his soul candy is in there." she observed.

"Probably not. If he was, he would be clinging to either you or Rukia." Renji quipped, chuckling slightly. "Only one way to find out for sure, though." He walked over and took the stuffed lion from Orihime. Then he reluctantly shoved his hand into the stuffed animal's mouth, groping around to feel for the soul candy. After a moment, he pulled his hand out and wiped it onto his shihaksho. Shaking his head, he said, "Nope. There's no Soul Candy in there."

"So, if Kon is not in Ichigo's body, and he's not in his stuffed lion..." Uryu began.

"...then where the hell is he?" Rukia concluded.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Uryu, being the problem solver and most logical one of the group, finally broke the silence. "There are only two possible explanations that I can think of for Kon's disappearance. One is that Kon's soul candy was knocked out of either Ichigo's body or his stuffed animal at some point during the fight..."

"That has happened before." Renji commented smugly.

"...in which case, the soul candy should be around here somewhere."

At Uryu's statement, Renji, Chad and Orihime began searching the clearing once again.

Rukia, however, was staring at Uryu, having once again caught on to his train of thought.

Uryu either didn't notice Rukia looking at him or was just choosing to ignore her. "The other, significantly more disturbing theory, is that whoever attacked Ichigo took Kon's soul candy with them after they fought with and defeated Ichigo."

Rukia finally spoke up. "Assuming that your second theory is indeed correct, which, if asked my opinion, it probably is, why take Kon?"

Renji, Orihime and Chad, having no luck finding Kon's soul, rejoined Uryu and Rukia in the clearing. "That's pretty obvious." Renji spoke up as Uryu was opening his mouth to answer. "Whoever attacked Ichigo probably took Kon with them to find out information about him. Ichigo doesn't go anywhere without Kon."

"Not just Ichigo." Uryu said. "Kon knows specific information about all of us that could prove useful to someone who was planning on mounting an attack. Kon has been around almost from the beginning, when Ichigo first met Rukia and she gave him her Soul Reaper powers. Plus, he would be the easiest out of all of us to snatch, since he's only a mod soul."

"We should cal Urahara," Rukia stated, pulling her soul pager out of her shihaksho. "He told us to keep him and Yoruichi informed of anything important that we find, and I'm pretty sure this qualifies." She pressed the number 2 button on her soul pager, then hit dial. She also put the call on speakerphone so everyone could hear what was going on. After three rings, the line finally connected.

"Urahara shop. Urahara speaking. How can I help you today?" Urahara's voice carried over the empty park.

"Hey, Urahara. It's Rukia." she replied. "Listen. We have some new information." She proceeded to tell him about finding Ichigo's body and Kon's stuffed lion uninhabited.

When she got done, the other end of the line was unnaturally silent.

"Urahara, you still there?"

""Did you find any other clues?"

"No." Renji spoke up from a couple of feet away, where he was standing up from finishing looking through the tree line at the edge of the clearing. "While Rukia was explaining the situation to you, the rest of us were looking for anything else that might clue us in as to who attacked Ichigo or why. We didn't come up with anything. Whoever did this was very good at covering their tracks.

Urahara was silent for a few more seconds before he finally spoke. "Alright, everyone. Some on back to the shop. It's getting late and there's nothing more you can do there. Just bring Ichigo's body back here and we can keep it safe. Bring the stuffed lion too."

"Okay, Urahara. We're on our way." Rukia responded. "How's Ichigo doing?"

"Still the same." Rukia heard Urahara sigh over the phone. "I'm hoping he wakes up soon. He may be the only one who can tell us who did this to him. We'll see you when you get back. Be careful." He disconnected the line.

"Chad. Can you take of Ichigo's body?" Rukia asked as she closed her Soul Pager and put it back into her shihaksho.

Chad nodded as he picked up Ichigo's body in a fireman's carry.

The group silently made their way back towards the entrance to the park.

Rukia and Renji were again walking in the front of the group. Rukia glanced back to see how Chad was doing, carrying Ichigo's body, and noticed that Orihime was walking several paces behind everyone else. Rukia dropped back until she was walking side by side with Orihime. She was further shocked to see that the young girl had tears running silently down her cheeks. She stopped and put a hand on Orihime's shoulder, which forced the other girl to stop as well. "What's wrong, Orihime? Why are you crying? She questioned softly.

The others noticed that they had stopped walking, and had stopped as well. They started back towards Rukia and Orihime, but the Soul Reaper shook her head slightly and held her index finger in the universal 'wait a minute' sign. They stopped about 10 feet away, each of them giving Rukia a quizzical look.

Orihime, who had her head bowed down, missed the whole thing.

Rukia turned her attention back to the young girl beside her. "Come on, Orihime. What's the matter. You can talk to me." she said gently, laying a hand comfortingly on Orihime's shoulder.

Orihime sniffed and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm...I'm just worried about Ichigo."

'Ah.' Rukia thought. 'Should have known.' But out loud she said. "You don't have to worry about him. You said so yourself...he's going to be fine. It takes more than that to bring down Ichigo. He's stubborn and strong willed. He'll be fine."

"It's not just that he's hurt that's got me worried. It's the fact that someone seemed to target him specifically. What if they come back."

Rukia smiled slightly. "Then we'll all be there to protect him. We won't let anything happen to him...even Renji."

Renji chuckled from his position standing with the others. When the 2 girls turned to look at him with questioning glances, he smiled slightly. "Yeah. We won't let anything happen to him...even if he can be a pain in the ass sometimes."

His comment illicited a half chuckle, half sob from Orihime. "Thank you Renji."

Renji smirked slightly in return.

"Come on." Rukia said, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders and leading her towards the rest of the group. "Let's get back and see how Ichigo's doing."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Urahara entered the back room and, glancing over to make sure Ichigo was still doing okay, went to sit down at the table in the corner of the room. He had brought a pot of tea and two cups with him from the front of the store. He poured himself a cup, then took a sip and sighed.

A moan from Ichigo caught Urahara's attention. He glanced over and watched as Ichigo shifted slightly, then was still and silent once again.

"Well, you've really gotten yourself into it once again, haven't you, Ichigo? I swear, sometimes I wonder if trouble doesn't follow you like a bad smell."

He was just lifting his cup to take another sip of his tea when the door opened and Yoruichi entered. She shut the door behind herself, then strode to the table and sat down across from Urahara.

While Urahara poured her a cup of tea, Yoruichi explained what she had found out from the Soul Society. "I contacted Soi Fon, explained our situation, and told her of our suspicions. She is going to call a meeting and plead our case to the Head Captain. She's going to contact me and let me know what they decide."

"The old man won't do anything." Urahara said as he sat the cup of tea down in front of Yoruichi. "Unless it directly affects the integrity of the Soul Society, the Head Captain's not going to…"

"I think he will." Yoruichi cut across him, already anticipating the rest of his sentence. "I think the Head Captain's finally starting to realize how much of an asset Ichigo has become."

"I hope you're right, because I don't think we stand a chance of defeating whoever did this to Ichigo without their help." Urahara took another sip of his tea before continuing. "What do you think about Kon's disappearance?

"I think it's pretty safe to assume that whoever attacked Ichigo kidnapped him…and that Uryu's suspicions are correct; that they took Kon to gain information. The only thing we can do at this point is wait for Soi Fon to contact s with the Head Captain's decision….or for sleeping beauty to wake up and tell us who did this to him." Yoruichi concluded, pointing her thumb over her shoulder to where Ichigo lay.

They sat in silence for a few moments, drinking their tea, until something occurred to Yoruichi. "Kisuke, where are Tessai, Jinta and Ururu?"

"They are out picking up a shipment for me. They should be back any moment now."

As if on cue, they heard the front door of the shop open and Tessai call out, "We're back, boss!"

Urahara and Yoruichi walked out to the front of the store in time to see Tessai, Jinta and Ururu sitting down several boxes.

"We brought the supplies you ordered, Mr. Urahara." Ururu said in her timid voice, catching sight of him and Yoruichi coming in from the back.

"So you did." Urahara went over and gave Ururu an affectionate pat on the head. Ururu beamed at Urahara's gesture, then turned her attention to Yoruichi. "Good evening, Mrs. Yoruichi. How are you today?"

Yoruichi smiled slightly at the young girl. "I'm just fine, Ururu. Thank you for asking."

"Any problems getting the merchandise, Tessai?" Urahara questioned.

"None at all…" Jinta answered instead. "…except Ururu dropped one of the boxes on our way back."

"Jinta!" Ururu whined. "I didn't think you were going to tell anyone." She turned to Urahara.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Urahara. I didn't mean to…and it wasn't anything breakable. I'm sorry." She hung her head, close to tears.

Urahara knelt down in front of the girl and put a hand on each of her shoulders. "Ururu." He spoke softly. When she raised her head to meet his gaze with her tear-filled one, he continued. "I'm not upset with you. Accidents happen. Don't worry about it." He held the young girl's gaze for a few more seconds, then stood and turned his attention to Tessai. "Can you carry these boxes back to the storage room, and then meet us in the back? Things have been pretty interesting since you guys left."

Tessai gathered up the boxes, and made is way to the storage room, while the rest of the group entered the back.

Jinta and Ururu gasped when Yoruichi opened the door and they caught sight of Ichigo's unconscious form.

"What happened to carrot-top?" Jinta asked, using Ichigo's infamous nickname.

"He was attacked." Yoruichi stated, going over to kneel beside Ichigo in order to check his bandages. "Renji and Rukia found him unconscious in the park this morning."

"Do you know who attacked him?" Tessai asked, having come in from taking the boxes to the storage room.

"Based on the wounds Ichigo sustained, we've come to the conclusion that he was attacked by another Soul Reaper." Urahara said, then went on to explain about the others' discovery of Kon and their assumption that whoever attacked Ichigo has kidnapped him.

"That's not good." Tessai commented. "So, what's the plan?"

"Yoruichi is waiting from a call from Soi Fon. Until we hear from her, or Ichigo wakes up, we really don't have a plan." Urahara explained.

Yoruichi, who was changing Ichigo's bandages, nodded her head in agreement.

"What about the others?" Tessai asked.

"They should be back any minute now…"

A shrill trilling sound broke off Urahara's statement.

Yoruichi pulled her phone from her pocket. "Soi Fon. What did you find out?" She listened for a moment, and then her expression changed to outrage. "Yes, but have they forgotten what happened at the Soul Society…okay. I understand. Thanks, Soi Fon." She flipped the phone shut with a snap.

While everyone's attention was focused on Yoruichi's conversation, the others had returned and slipped into the room.

"Let me guess…they're not coming." Rukia said, making everyone in the room jump.

"No, they're not," Yoruichi said. "According to Soi Fon, the Head Captain doesn't want to send anyone just because of a Substitute Soul Reaper."

"Typical," Renji muttered. "And after everything Ichigo did for them when Rukia was going to executed." He saw Rukia grimace slightly. "Sorry."

Rukia glared at Renji for a moment. "Well, we're just going to have to investigate for ourselves, then."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Yoruichi. "I don't like it." She stated matter-of-factly, a frown appearing on her face.

"We don't have much choice, Yoruichi. If no one in the Soul Society's coming to help us, then we have to…"

"Who said that nobody from the Soul Society was coming?" said a sudden voice from the doorway.

**Oops…a cliffhanger. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, everyone! Hope it was worth the wait. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Everyone on the room turned towards the doorway to find Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, and his Lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto.

"Captain Hitsugaya…Lieutenant Matsumoto…what are you doing here?" Rukia exclaimed, shocked by the sudden appearance of the two Soul Reapers.

"We came to help, of course," Toshiro answered. "And we're not alone."

He and Rangiku walked further into the room, allowing Ikkaku Madarame, Yumichika Ayasegawa, Captain Ukitake, Lieutenant Kira, Soi Fon, Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru to enter.

Soi Fon went over to Yoruichi and began to speak to her in soft tones.

Ururu shifted slightly so she was standing behind Urahara, intimidated by the sight of so many Soul Reapers.

"So, do you have a plan?" Toshiro asked. When everyone shook their heads, he continued. "That's okay, because we think we might."

"Yachiru here is pretty good at detecting and distinguishing between different types of spiritual pressure." Kenpachi picked up the conversation, pointing over his shoulder to his Lieutenant, who was perched in her usual spot. "Our plan is to go to where you found Ichigo and, hopefully, Yachiru can recognize and trace their spiritual pressure."

"Sounds good," Yoruichi responded. "We've had a development that's arose since Soi Fon and I last spoke." She filled the Soul Reapers in on Kon's disappearance and their suspicions that whoever attacked Ichigo had kidnapped him.

"Is he going to be alright?" Toshiro asked, nodding his head in the direction of Ichigo's unconscious form.

"Yeah, he'll survive," Yoruichi said. "Orihime used her Santen Kesshun on him."

"It sure would save us a lot of trouble if he just wake up and tell us who did this to him," Captain Ukitake commented absently.

"Oh, you know Ichigo," Renji said smugly. "He always has to do everything his way."

Everyone in the room smiled slightly at that.

"Alright," Urahara said, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. Once he had fifteen sets of eyes on him, he continued. "We should split up into two groups. Rukia, Orihime and Yumichika should stay here incase whoever did this tries to have another go at Ichigo. The rest of you, go to the park. Everyone clear on the plan?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, then…let's get to it."

The sky was starting to tinge pink with the first rays of sunlight as Renji led the group of Soul reapers, Chad and Uryu to the clearing in the park.

While Kenpachi walked over the spot Renji pointed out, Yachiru still perched on his shoulder, the rest of the group wandered around. Most of the Soul Reapers in the group had never been to the World of the Living before.

Toshiro, who had been wandering around the outskirts of the clearing looking for clues in the growing light, suddenly stopped and raised his head to glance at the sky.

Rangiku, who had been following close behind him, bumped into him. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking up to see why her Captain had stopped walking. "What's wrong, Captain?" she asked, following his gaze. She gasped, her hand going to the hilt of her Zanpaku-to. "Oh, no," She whispered, and then raised her voice so everyone in the clearing could hear her. "Um…everyone! We've got a problem!"

The others looked over, and following her and Hitsugaya's gaze, looked skyward.

A tear had formed in the sky above Karakura town, and hundreds of Hollows were emerging.

** I'm trying to make up for lost time by posting several chapters at the same time, folks. Sorry this chapter is so short! The next one will be longer…promise!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Ichigo struggled to open his eyes, and immediately had to close them again because of the bright light that assaulted him.

'What happened?' He thought. 'I remember walking through the park on my way home, then being attacked by…'

His eyes flew open again as the full weight of what happened crashed down on him.

Ichigo looked around and realized that he wasn't truly awake after all; he was inside his inner world. 'Which means that Zangetsu must be around here…?' Ichigo spotted his sword's manifestation, standing upon a pole like always, staring up into the sky.

Ichigo, too, looked up towards the sky and was surprised to find it full of storm clouds. "Zangetsu," He said aloud. "What am I doing here?"

"I brought you here," Zangetsu replied, never taking his eyes off the sky.

"What are you, 12?" Ichigo asked angrily. "Why don't you look at me when I talk to you?" Zangetsu finally turned to look at him. "Why did you bring me here?"

"To teach you," Zangetsu replied simply, stepping down from the pole he was perched on and walking over to where Ichigo was, still kneeling on the sideways building that occupied his inner world. "Do you remember the identity of the one who attacked you?"

"Yes," Ichigo replied urgently. "I have to go back and help my friends. Please, Master…let me return."

"Very well, Ichigo. But know this…if you fail to stop him, your life will never be the same again. Now go."

Zangetsu's manifested form disappeared and reappeared as the sword in Ichigo's hand as Ichigo fell past the buildings…falling down deeper and deeper into the abyss…

Rukia sat with Orihime as the young girl watched Ichigo, as if afraid that if she looked away, he would disappear forever. Rukia finally placed her hand over Orihime's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "He's going to be fine, Orihime. Yoruichi said his wounds are already starting to heal, thanks to your Santen Kesshun."

After a few seconds, Orihime looked away from Ichigo and allowed Rukia to lead her over to the table in the corner of the room.

They both sat down, and Rukia poured two cups of tea. She handed one to Orihime, who took it, nodding her head in thanks.

Rukia studied the girl in front of her for a moment. "You really care about him, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," Orihime responded in a whisper. "But not as much as you do."

Rukia opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a low moan. Both girls turned to find Ichigo shifting slightly.

Rukia turned to Orihime as they both stood up. "Go get Kisuke and Yoruichi. Now."

A flash of annoyance briefly lit Orihime's eyes, then she gave a curt nod and hurried out of the room.

Rukia hurried over and knelt beside Ichigo, taking one of his hands in both of hers. "Ichigo, can you hear me?"

Ichigo gripped Rukia's hand tightly, although his eyes remained closed. He shifted more, as though agitated.

"Ichigo, it's Rukia. Can you open your eyes for me?"

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open briefly, then closed.

"Oh, no you don't. Come on, sleepy head," Rukia joked lightly, squeezing Ichigo's hand. "Time to wake up. Open your eyes for me, Ichigo. Come on."

The door to the room opened, and Yoruichi, Urahara, Orihime and Yumichika entered. Yoruichi and Urahara came over to Rukia and Ichigo, while Yumichika and Orihime hovered in the background, watching intently.

"Orihime said he was starting to wake up," Yoruichi said, kneeling down beside Rukia while Urahara stood just behind them. She studied Ichigo critically, as he continued to shift around, his movements becoming increasingly more agitated.

"He opened his eyes a minute ago," Rukia said, looking at Ichigo worriedly.

"We'd better hold him down before he opens up his wounds again," Urahara commented, putting words to actions as ne kneeled down and gently restrained Ichigo's legs.

Yoruichi deftly leaped over Ichigo to his other side, and held down his one arm, while Rukia restrained his other arm, although she still gripped Ichigo's hand tightly in one of her own.

Yoruichi used the hand not restraining Ichigo to massage his chest, being careful to avoid the stab wound in his shoulder. "Open your eyes, Ichigo."

Ichigo's eyes finally fluttered open again, then shot open fully, his struggling intensifying. His unfocused eyes scanned the room, and the hand Yoruichi was holding felt blindly at the floor, looking for Zangetsu.

"Ichigo, you're safe. It's Rukia, Yoruichi and Urahara." Rukia tried to reassure Ichigo.

Ichigo's struggling stopped abruptly, as Rukia's voice finally got through to him. He went limp, panting slightly, as he turned his head to look at Rukia.

"Rukia?" he questioned, his voice rasping slightly from non-use.

Rukia nodded, smiling through her tears. "Good to finally see you awake."

"You gave us quite a scare, Ichigo," Urahara commented, releasing his hold on Ichigo's legs.

"Ichigo," Yoruichi said. "Do you remember what happened to you? Do you know who attacked you?"

Ichigo's eyes snapped fully open as the events of what happened to him came flooding back. Before anyone could make a move to stop him, he had propped himself up on one elbow, the other hand reaching for the hilt of Zangetsu, lying beside him.

Rukia felt Ichigo's grip on her hand tighten, almost painfully. His reaction shocked and scared her. "Ichigo, what's wrong? Do you remember something?"

"I remember everything," Ichigo replied in a hoarse half-whisper.

"Then who did this to you? What happened?"

"It was Gin Ichimaru," Ichigo growled, his hand tightening on Zangetsu.

**Dun-dun-dun! Finally, this story is coming together! Thanks to everyone who have been so patient with me as I figured out where I wanted to go with this story! And thanks for all the reviews! You guys are the best **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

In a collective, fluid movement, Renji, Toshiro, Rangiku, Ikkaku, Captain Ukitake, Lieutenant Kira, Soi Fon and Kenpachi all drew their Zanpaku-to's, and held them at the ready.

Chad shifted himself slightly so he as in front of Uryu, trying not to be obvious about it, because he knew the Quincy would object to being protected,

Uryu, however, noticed the change in Chad's stance. "Don't try to protect me, Chad. I can still fight."

Chad's only response was to release his spiritual pressure, transforming his right arm.

Renji moved back until he was standing beside Ikkaku. He spoke in an undertone, so Uryu would not overhear. "Do me a favor…help Chad cover Uryu?"

Ikkaku nodded, and he shifted his stance to better cover the Quincy.

Renji went back to stand beside Toshiro, who gave him a questioning look. "Why does Uryu need to be protected?"

"He lost his powers fighting in the Soul Society."

Toshiro nodded grimly, then turned his attention back towards the sky.

Several hundred Hollows were pouring out of the tear in the sky and converging upon the group above their heads. They floated in the air a couple hundred feet above the ground, but didn't descend any further.

"What the hell are they waiting for?" Renji commented tersely, as the group of Hollows continued to hold their position in the sky.

"I'm not sure…but I say we take the fight to them," Ikkaku replied, the thrill he felt for the upcoming battle showing in his eyes.

Just then, as if an invisible force field that had held the Hollows was suddenly shattered, they began to move, roaring with the anticipation of feeding on the enormous combined spiritual pressure from the group below.

"No need to go to them now," Toshiro said. "Get ready, everyone!"

The groups held their positions until the first mass of Hollows were no more than 10 feet from them, then; first Toshiro then the rest of the Soul Reapers took to the sky themselves.

Captain Hitsugaya and Rangiku worked as a team, killing several of the Hollows with ease, until Rangiku was overpowered when five Hollows converged upon her at once.

"Rangiku!" Toshiro yelled as he saw his Lieutenant disappear under the mass of Hollows. "Reign Over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro yelled, releasing his Shikai.

At Hitsugaya's command, the ice dragon framed and enveloped the Hollows attacking Rangiku. Using his flash step, Toshiro raced his dragon to Rangiku and pulled her out from underneath the Hollows, then flash stepped them away as Hyorinmaru descended upon the Hollows, freezing them in place.

Toshiro had his arm around Rangiku, supporting her while she tried to catch her breath. "Are you okay, Rangiku? You're bleeding," he examined her arm, where one of the Hollows had cut her with his claws.

"It's not serious," Rangiku commented, tearing a piece of fabric from her already-torn shihaksho and wrapping her arm to stop the bleeding. "Thanks, Captain." She continued, smiling.

"Anytime."

"Ahhh…!"

Toshiro and Rangiku looked towards the ground as the yell cut off abruptly.

Renji was lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding from a head wound. Uryu was kneeling beside him, pressing his hand to the wound to try to staunch the bleeding while Chad and Ikkaku were standing in front of them, destroying any Hollows who sensed weakness and tried to attack.

Ikkaku caught sight of Toshiro and Rangiku looking, and waved at them. "Don't worry! He'll be fine!"

Toshiro nodded and he and Rangiku once again joined in on the fighting.

For over an hour, the group worked to destroy all the Hollows. Finally, they all stood around, panting and exhausted, swords held at the ready, but the next assault never happened…they had succeeded in destroying all the Hollows.

"Well…" Toshiro finally spoke up once he had caught his breath, "…that was bracing. Everyone alright?"

Everyone nodded, except for Renji, who was still unconscious. Toshiro glanced at Uryu for an explanation.

"A hollow snuck up behind him…he took a pretty nasty blow to the head," Uryu said by way of explanation for Renji's current condition. "He's probably going to be out for a couple of hours."

Toshiro turned to look at Chad. "Can you take care of him?"

Chad nodded.

"Those Hollows were most likely sent by someone," Toshiro continued.

"Yeah, and I can tell you who it was," Yachiru responded, back on Kenpachi's shoulder now that he was done fighting the Hollows.

Everyone turned to look at the pink-haired Lieutenant.

"Did you sense their spiritual pressure?" Rangiku questioned.

"Uh-huh," Yachiru said, nodding her head. "From the spot where Ichi was attacked and also from the Hollows who just attacked."

There was silence for a couple seconds while everyone waited for Yachiru to elaborate, and when she didn't, Toshiro lost patience. "Well, then, who was it?" he practically yelled.

"Gin Ichimaru."

**Whoo-hoo! I'm on a roll tonight! Insomnia isn't such a bad thing sometimes. So, I think one more chapter for the night, and then I'm off to bed. Hope these chapters were worth the wait, folks! So, please go review and let me know what you think so far! Until next time! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks to ShiroHichi891 for the inspiring review...you're in luck, cause here's the next chapter! Thanks for the encouragement!**

**Chapter 10:**

A collective gasp went up from the group at Yachiru's revelation.

"Are you sure it was Ichimaru?" Toshiro asked, looking at the Squad Thirteen Lieutenant.

Yachiru nodded her head. "Uh-huh. The spot where Renji and Rukia found Ichi…it's especially strong there. But the Hollows that just attacked had Ichimaru's spiritual pressure on them too."

"That can't be a coincidence," Uryu spoke up. "Those Hollows showing up here. If it was Ichimaru who attacked Ichigo, then he probably sent those Hollows here to finish the job." He got quiet for a moment, deep in thought.

"What's the matter, Uryu? What are you thinking?" Toshiro questioned, unnerved by the Quincy's sudden silence.

"I was just thinking…those Hollows showing up here….it might have been a diversion for the rest of us until Ichimaru could find out where Ichigo was."

Toshiro gasped. "Do you think that could be a possibility?"

Uryu nodded his head grimly.

"We need to get back to Urahara's shop!" Toshiro proclaimed, raising his voice so that everyone in the clearing could hear. "Uryu, you and Chad bring Renji and follow us as quickly as you can. Ikkaku, stay with them in case more Hollows attack them. The rest of you, let's go!"

The Soul Reapers, using their flash step, disappeared, the only disturbance as they left being a slight breeze through the clearing.

Chad swiftly knelt down and picked up Renji then him, Uryu and Ikkaku took off running.

Ikkaku looked over at Uryu as they exited the park and ran through the streets. "Do you really think that Ichimaru would send Hollows after Ichigo?"

"I think it's a definite possibility," Uryu said, panting slightly from running. "Think about it…Ichimaru has no idea that any one of you is in the World of the Living. As far as he knows, Ichigo is by himself here, making him easy prey to finish off."

"Makes sense, I guess."

They focused on running after that.

By the time they got to the shop, the last of the Soul Reapers were just then entering the front.

"How did we almost keep pace with them?" Uryu questioned as they entered the store behind Rangiku.

Rangiku turned to Uryu and winked. "We didn't want to get too far ahead of you guys in case more Hollows decided to attack."

"Any trouble?" Uryu asked as they made their way to the back of the shop.

"There was a couple of Hollows hanging around the shop when we got here," Rangiku replied. "Captain Hitsugaya took care of them, though."

Uryu nodded.

Everyone entered the back room. A gasp came from Ichigo and Rukia when Chad came in carrying Renji.

Renji!" Rukia exclaimed, running over to her childhood friend and helping Chad lay him down on a sleep mat next that Urahara placed next to Ichigo.

"Don't worry," Uryu assured her. "It's not serious." He then focused his attention on Ichigo. "Glad to see you finally decided to join us. How are you feeling, Ichigo?"

"Like I've been stabbed and sliced up," Ichigo replied with a wry smile. "Thanks for asking. What happened to Renji?"

"A group of Hollows attacked while we were investigating the site where Rukia and Renji found you yesterday morning," Toshiro interjected. "Good to see you awake."

"Thanks, Toshiro. Listen…" Ichigo stopped, and then did a double take, just then noticing all the Soul Reapers crowded into the small room. "Umm…does someone mind explaining to me what the hell you're all doing here?"

"We came to help you," Rangiku stated matter-of-factly.

"Yoruichi contacted me and explained what happened to you," Soi Fon elaborated, seeing the confused look that remained on Ichigo's face at Rangiku's 'explanation.' "I called a Captain's meeting to try to convince the Head Captain to help, but he refused. When everyone in this room found out about your situation, they all volunteered to come and help you out." She cast a glance at Toshiro. "You can thank Captain Hitsugaya. It was all his idea."

Ichigo stared openly at the young Soul Reaper Captain. He had always held the impression that Toshiro didn't like him very much…but here he was…blatantly defying the Head Captain's orders and leading a team to come and help him. Ichigo didn't know what to say. "Uh…thank you, Toshiro."

Toshiro glanced sharply at Ichigo, who recoiled slightly from the look, then sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? It's Captain Hitsugaya, not Toshiro…and you're welcome." He threw a look over his shoulder at his Lieutenant, who was giggling.

Catching her Captain looking at her, Rangiku shut up immediately.

"Anyway," Toshiro continued. "Yachiru thinks she knows the identity of the person who attacked you, Ichigo."

"Yep," Yachiru chimed in. "The person who attacked Ichi and sent the Hollows after us was…"

"…Gin Ichimaru." Yachiru and Ichigo finished at the same time.

Yachiru looked over Kenpachi's shoulder to stare at Ichigo. Everyone else in the room looked at him, too.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Ichigo asked, an apprehensive look on his face. "What did I do?"

"How did you…?" Rangiku began.

"Isn't it obvious how he knows?" Rukia spoke up. One of her hands held Renji's tightly, while the other was perched on Ichigo's knee. "Ichigo was attacked by Ichimaru, so he obviously got a good look at him before Ichimaru over powered him."

"Hey!" Ichigo protested, propping himself up on his elbows and fixing Rukia with an angry stare. "Don't make it sound like he's stronger than me or something!"

"Well, he did beat you and leave you half dead in the middle of the park," Rangiku pointed out.

"Yeah, well, he cheated. He snuck up on me and stabbed me in the back."

"Still doesn't change the fact that he beat you."

"Did not."

"Did too," Rangiku said, a smile threatening to show on her face.

"Did not!"

"Enough!" Yoruichi shouted, stepping between Ichigo and Rangiku. "Ichigo, like back down before I make you lie down."

Ichigo complied immediately, knowing from experience that Yoruichi would make good on the threat, regardless of whether he was injured or not.

Rangiku's smile disappeared, and she went to stand slightly behind her Captain.

Hitsugaya just smiled and shook his head slightly.

"Whatever happened between Ichimaru and Ichigo is unimportant at this point," Yoruichi continued, glancing over to make sure Ichigo was still lying down. "What we need to do now is track down Ichimaru before he sends more Hollows after Ichigo, or worse…comes after Ichigo again himself."

Toshiro turned to Urahara. "Do you think Ichimaru is acting alone, or do you think he's under orders from Aizen?"

That got everyone thinking. Even though Toshiro directed the question at Urahara, it was Ichigo who answered. "I think we can probably assume that Ichimaru is acting under orders from Aizen. The whole time they were in the Soul Society, planning their betrayal, Ichimaru was acting under Aizen's authority. Why should it be any different now?" He let everyone think that over for a few seconds, and then continued. "As for tracking them down, I think it's pretty obvious here we should start."

Yoruichi turned to face Ichigo. "You mean Hueco Mundo, don't you?"

Ichigo nodded grimly. "I would assume. That makes the most sense. The last place we saw any of them was when they made their escape from the Soul Society…and they entered Hueco Mundo. It would be as good a place as any t start looking for them, considering what we know."

"Okay," Urahara, ever the problem solver, made his way to the middle of the over-crowded room. "Here's what we're going to…" He broke off as an eerie sounding howl came from directly outside the shop.

"Oh, no," Toshiro whispered as all of the Soul Reaper's pagers starting beeping simultaneously, alerting the group to the presence of a Hollow in the area.

The shrill beeping continued as Toshiro flung open the door and ran towards the front of the store, the other Soul Reapers following him an instant later.

Yoruichi turned to Ichigo, who was struggling to rise. "Ichigo, don't you dare even think about trying to get up. Chad, Uryu, Orihime, Rukia…stay in here and keep these two safe." She added, nodding her head in the direction of Ichigo and Renji before going after the others.

Rukia, not content to sit out on another battle when her comrades were in danger, turned to Uryu. "Make sure Ichigo stays here!" Then she was out the door.

"Rukia! No!" Ichigo shouted after her, attempting to get up, but Uryu and Chad held him down.

"Let me go! I have to help!"

"No, Ichigo," Uryu protested, holding onto Ichigo's arm as he attempted to sit up again.

"Please, Ichigo, don't try to get up," Orihime said. "Your wounds haven't even had a chance to close yet. The others can take care of themselves. Don't worry."

'No,' Ichigo thought. 'You're wrong, Orihime…something terrible is about to happen.'

**Whew. Another chapter down. Let me know what you all think! Please review! Arigatou! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: **

"Not again!"

Toshiro and the other Soul Reapers had emerged from Urahara's shop to find the sky once again thick with Hollows.

"Time to have some more fun," Kenpachi said, while Yachiru giggled on his shoulder.

Rukia came running out to the front of Urahara's shop, and almost ran into Soi Fon and Yoruichi.

"I thought I told you to stay inside and help Chad and Uryu protect Renji and Ichigo," Yoruichi reprimanded Rukia.

"And miss out on another battle? I don't think so," Rukia, to further her point, drew her Zanpaku-to and shifted her stance.

"Get read," Toshiro said, his voice thick with tension as the Hollows honed in on the Soul Reapers and began to descend.

My, my, my," A familiar voice spoke up from the back of the group, making everyone jump in surprise and turn around. "I told Aizen not to send quite so many Hollows…I didn't want to over-complicate things."

Toshiro, recognizing the new comers' voice, turned and dashed through his comrades to the back of the group. "Hello, Ichimaru."

Gin Ichimaru stood, smiling, in front of the group of Soul Reapers. "Hello, Captain Hitsugaya. How nice to see you again. How have you been?"

"What do you want, Gin?" Toshiro spat out, a snarl marring his handsome features.

"No need to be so hostile and unfriendly, Captain," Gin commented, seemingly unaffected by Toshiro's attitude. He turned his attention to the others assembled behind Hitsugaya. "Well, this is an unexpected surprise. All these Soul Reapers to protect someone that's not even one of us. Regardless, it's very nice to see all of you again."

"I will only ask you this one more time," Toshiro said, making the former Captain turn to look at him again. "What are you doing here, Gin? What do you want?" His hand went to the hilt of Hyorinmaru.

"I am not at liberty to discuss my agenda at this time," Ichimaru commented, drawing his Zanpaku-to and dropping back into a fighting stance.

The howls from the oncoming Hollows echoed through the streets.

"Captain…" Rangiku's voice drifted to the front of the group, anxiety and warning evident in her voice as she glanced over her shoulder to the mass of oncoming Hollows.

"Go…finish the Hollows. I will deal with this," Toshiro answered, drawing Hyorinmaru, talking to the others but never letting his focus waver from the man standing in front of him.

"But, Captain…"

"Go, Rangiku! That's an order!"

The other Soul reapers turned and began battling the Hollows…

…except Rangiku, who was reluctant to leave her Captain alone to face such a dangerous enemy.

Toshiro spared a glance back at his Lieutenant. His voice softened, as did his expression. "Don't worry, Rangiku. I'll be fine. Go and help the others."

Toshiro's lack of concentration gave Ichimaru the opening he needed, and he barely had enough time to lift Hyorinmaru to block the attack.

"Captain!" Rangiku cried, rushing forward to help.

"No, Rangiku!" Toshiro yelled, furiously trading blows with Ichimaru. "I gave you an order, and I expect you to follow it! Go and help the others! I'll be fine, I promise!"

Before she could change her mind, Rangiku turned and leapt into the air to help the others battle the mass of Hollows.

"Why did you attack Ichigo?" Toshiro continued his line of questioning.

"I was following order," Ichimaru thrust his Zanpaku-to, Shunso, at Toshiro's chest, right above his heart.

Toshiro side-stepped the attack, ad felt the blade slice through the sleeve of his shihaksho and his skin alike. His blood ran don his arm and dripped from his fingers, making it difficult for him to keep hold of the hilt of Hyorinmaru. 'Damn. That was too close.' Toshiro thought grimly. 'His powers have grown because of the time he's spent in Hueco Mundo. I have to pay more attention.' Out loud, he said, "What do you want?" trying to get any useful information out of the former Captain of Squad Three. "Why return from Hueco Mundo now?"

As an answer, Ichimaru parried a sing from Toshiro, then took his blade and thrust it into the younger Captain's shoulder. The blade went all the way through Toshiro's shoulder and into the wall behind, pinning him to the building. "I told you once…do I really need to repeat myself? Very well…I am not able to discuss my purpose for being here…but you'll find out soon enough."

Toshiro gasped in pain as Ichimaru pulled his Zanpaku-to out of his shoulder, twisting the blade as he did to inflict the maximum amount of damage.

Toshiro's hand went numb as the blade finally slipped fully free of his shoulder. Hyorinmaru fell from his already blood-slick fingers and would have clattered to the ground if Toshiro had not reached out with his left hand and caught the hilt. "Reign Over the Frosted Heavens…Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro gasped out, releasing his Zanpaku-to to its Shikai form.

Tendrils of ice began to form on Hyorinmaru's blade.

Ichimaru, having both fought Hitsugaya before and seen him in action, knew what was coming...so he pressed his attack. Using his flash step, Ichimaru closed the distance between himself and Toshiro and stabbed the young Captain in the stomach.

"Sorry, old friend," Ichimaru leaned in and whispered in Toshiro's ear. "But I can't have you interfering with out plans. You and Ichigo are our two biggest concerns…and with you both out of the way, there will be no one left to stop us." At the last word, he pulled the sword savagely out of Toshiro.

Toshiro gasped and grabbed the front of his shihaksho, where blood was pouring out of the stab wound. He could also feel the warm trickle of blood on his back. He staggered forward a couple of steps, trying to continue to fight…but the wound as too much, and he fell forward, unconscious.

Ichimaru stared down at Toshiro's unmoving form for a moment, then turned and headed in the direction of the other Soul Reapers.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

"Ichigo, I swear, if you don't lie back down, I'm going to have Chad knock you out! You're in no condition to be fighting!"

Ichigo, gasping and sweating, fell back down onto the sleep mat. The room spun dizzyingly fast, and he closed his eyes, trying to get his sense of equilibrium back.

Uryu and Chad, who had been physically restraining Ichigo for the better part of ten minutes to keep him from joining the group battling the Hollows, relaxed slightly, thinking that Ichigo was finally complying with their demands for him to stay still and lie down.

So they were surprised when Ichigo's eyes flew open suddenly, and he was on his feet, sword in hand and halfway to the door before they knew what was happening.

"Ichigo, what the hell do you think you're doing!" Uryu exclaimed as he raced towards the door and moved ahead of Ichigo to stand in front of it.

"Ichimaru is out there," Ichigo gasped out; trying to fight the dizziness he felt enough to make it out the door. "I can feel his…his spiritual…pressure…" He felt himself start to pitch forward, and he could do nothing to stop his fall. His vision went black for a moment.

When he could see again, he was again lying on the sleep mat, and Uryu, Chad and Orihime were looking down at him worriedly.

"You see now, Ichigo? You're not healed enough yet to be going out there and fighting," Uryu stated.

"Ichigo, please…you're going to open your wounds again," Orihime pleaded with him. "Toshiro and the others and handle the situation. Please….try and relax."

Ichigo lay still, his eyes closed, investing his efforts into trying to get better. He knew everyone was right…in his current condition, he barely had enough strength to lift Zangetsu, let alone fight the man who had put him in this condition in the first place. But just because he knew it didn't mean he had to like it. He hated knowing the people he cared about were in danger, and not being able to do anything to help them.

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted and the silence in the room broken when Orihime suddenly gasped and stiffened.

"What is it, Orihime?" Uryu questioned his worry evident as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder to try and steady her. "What's wrong?"

"Something's happened to Captain Hitsugaya! His spiritual pressure just dropped to almost nothing!"

Ichigo rose up on his elbows. "What! Orihime, are you…" The Ichigo felt it. If Orihime hadn't have mentioned it, he probably never would have noticed. "You're right! We have to go help him!"

"No, Ichigo," Uryu stated, barring any attempts from the Soul Reaper to go and help before he even tried. "You're only going to be a hindrance if you go out there." He turned to Chad. "Go and see what's happened."

Chad nodded, rose and left.

'Damnit!' Ichigo thought. 'Once again, my friends are in danger and there's nothing I can do to help them. Please…be careful, everyone!'

Rangiku was fighting alongside the others when she sensed the spike, then loss in her Captain's spiritual pressure. Alarmed, she began frantically searching her surroundings, trying to get a better idea as to what had happened, when she spotted Ichimaru walking calmly towards the group, blood dripping off his Zanpaku-to.

"Captain?" Rangiku whispered, putting the pieces together to come to the conclusion that something terrible had happened to her Captain. "What the hell did you do to him!" She screamed as she ran towards Ichimaru, fully intending to kill him.

Using his flash step, Ichimaru was easily able to avoid Rangiku's rage-filled attack. "I grow tired of these pointless battles…time to get what I came for."

Rangiku watched as Ichimaru literally _vanished, _then reappeared seconds later behind Rukia, who was battling a Hollow and did not notice him.

"Rukia!" Rangiku screamed out a warning as she rushed towards her comrade, already knowing as she did that she would never make it in time.

Ichimaru brought the hilt of his Zanpaku-to down on the back of Rukia's neck, just below her ear. She fell unconscious instantly, and Ichimaru grabbed her before she could hit the ground.

Everyone turned their attention to the scene, alerted to the trouble by Rangiku's scream.

Lieutenant Kira, who was closest, ran towards Ichimaru and swung his Zanpaku-to at him, but Ichimaru brought up his own sword and easily deflected the swing, then turned and disappeared, reappearing in the sky above the Soul Reapers.

By some unspoken signal, the Hollows turned tail and disappeared behind Ichimaru. Ichimaru just stood staring at the group gathered below him, then turned and vanished into the hole in the sky as well. With his retreat, the hole in the sky vanished.

Everyone stared up at the sky in stunned silence, trying to process what had just happened.

"Captain1" Rangiku suddenly shouted, making everyone else jump.

Rangiku remembered the loss of her Captain's spiritual pressure and the blood dripping from Ichimaru's blade, and took off running.

"Rangiku? What's going on? Where are you going?" Captain Ukitake called out, running after the Lieutenant, the others following.

Their battle against the Hollows had taken them several blocks away from Kisuke's shop. Rangiku followed Hitsugaya's fading spiritual pressure to about half a block from the shop.

"Captain!" Rangiku cried out, running to Toshiro, who was lying in the middle of the street. She crouched down next to him, gently turning him over and was shocked to see that his eyes were open.

"Captain," she exclaimed in surprise and shock. "Captain, can you head me?"

Toshiro groaned softly, and then blinked as his eyes seemed to finally focus on his Lieutenant.

"Rangiku? Are you hurt?"

Rangiku let out a half laugh, half sob. "No Captain, I'm fine…but you're hurt pretty badly. Just lay still."

Toshiro nodded and closed his eyes. "What happened?"

Rangiku, while she talked, placed her hand to Toshiro's wound to try and stop the bleeding, and more tears fell from her eyes as Toshiro let out a groan of pain at the action. She explained what had happened after Ichimaru had wounded him.

After she finished talking, she didn't receive any response from Toshiro.

"Captain?" She said worriedly, using the hand that was not staunching the bleeding in his stomach to gently shake his shoulder, but gained no response.

A gasp alerted Rangiku to the fact that the others had arrived.

Captain Ukitake rushed forward and knelt down beside Toshiro, removing Rangiku's hand from the wound and inspecting it gravely. "Come on. We've got to get him back to Urahara's." He gathered up Toshiro and started in the direction of the shop, leaving Rangiku kneeling where her Captain had been lying.

Rangiku continued crying silently until she felt a hand lay gently on her shoulder. She started, her hand going reflexively to the hilt of her Hanieko, then relaxed when she looked up to find Yourichi standing over her. "Yoruichi? I thought you had gone on with the others."

"You can't blame yourself for what happened to him," Yoruichi said, walking around and kneeling down in front of the Lieutenant.

"I never should have left," Rangiku said as a couple more tears made their way silently down her cheeks, "It's a Lieutenant's duty to protect her Captain. I knew how dangerous Ichimaru was and I still left the Captain to fight him alone."

"You were following a direct order from your Captain. But right now, we need to focus on getting Rukia back," Yoruichi stood, and offered a hand to Rangiku.

Rangiku took the proffered hand and allowed Rangiku to pull her to her feet. She nodded gravely. "You're right…let's go."

"Let go of me! I have to go help!" Ichigo complained, fighting against Uryu, who was restraining him and preventing him from standing.

"Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to stand, Ichigo? Now, I swear, if you don't stay still and keep trying to get up, I'll…" But what Uryu would do to him fell on silent lips when first Urahara, then the rest of the group, including Chad, started filing into the tiny room.

"Urahara…what happened?" Ichigo said, promptly ceasing fighting Uryu and propping himself on his elbows on the sleep mat. "Is everyone…Toshiro?"

Captain Ukitake had just entered, carrying the unconscious Hitsugaya.

"Toshiro! What the hell happened to him!" Ichigo demanded, turning to Urahara.

Without being told to, Orihime went over and knelt down beside Toshiro. "Santen Kesshun…I reject," she whispered, holding her hands over Toshiro's unconscious form.

"He was attacked by Gin Ichimaru," Rangiku said, entering the room, followed by Yoruichi.

Ichigo noticed that Rangiku's eyes were red-rimmed and knew that the Lieutenant had been crying. He also noticed that she was looking anywhere but at him.

A cold sliver of fear wormed its way down Ichigo's throat and settled into his stomach. A sudden realization came over Ichigo, and, his breathing quickening considerably, he scanned the room. "Where's Rukia?" he questioned, his voice breaking slightly as he said her name.

The silence in the room was almost deafening, and the longer it lasted, the more panicked Ichigo became.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo," Rangiku finally broke the silence in the room. "Ichimaru knocked her unconscious and dragged her into Hueco Mundo. We tried to stop him, but…." She broke off, looking at the Substitute Soul Reaper anxiously.

Silence once again dominated the room, and all eyes were on Ichigo, who closed his eyes and fell back onto the sleep mat with a sigh.

"Well, then…we're just going to have to go to Hueco Mundo and get her."

A stunned silence filled the room at Ichigo's proclamation.

Ichigo, for his part, paid no attention to the lack of reaction. He opened his eyes, and they focused on Urahara. "It can be done, can't it?"

"Uh-huh."

"You can't be serious about letting him do this," came another voice from beside Ichigo.

Ichigo glanced to the side to see Renji staring at him with an incredulous look on his face. "Renji…you're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Better than you apparently," When Ichigo gave him a questioning look, Renji continued. "You have obviously lost your mind, if you want to try and enter Hueco Mundo."

"And you obviously heard enough of the conversation...who knows what Ichimaru is planning on doing to Rukia! We've got to go saver her!"

"So you just plan on entering Hueco Mundo, which is the home of the Hollows, by the way, and get yourself killed trying to rescue Rukia? Is that is?"

"Are you telling me you just want to leave her there to die! We just got her back!" 

"You know I want to save her as much as you do…maybe more…but look at you! You can barely stand! How do you expect to…"

"Enough, you two!" Yoruichi interceded. "Arguing amongst ourselves is not going to help us rescue Rukia. Ichigo, I cannot allow you to go to Hueco Mundo…"

Renji gave Ichigo a satisfied smirk, while Ichigo angrily opened his mouth to protest.

"…at least, not without a plan."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

Chaos reigned at Yoruichi's statement.

"Enough, everyone!" Yoruichi yelled at the arguing group. "Would everyone just calm down and listen to me?" Nut able to be heard over the multiple overlapping voices, she put two fingers between her lips and whistled shrilly.

Everyone in the room stopped arguing immediately and put their hands to their ears.

Yoruichi continued to whistle for a few more seconds; being sure she got her point across, and then stopped.

"Ow," Renji commented, as everyone took their hands away from their ears. "Thanks for making my headache come back, Yoruichi."

"Now that I have everyone's attention…" Yoruichi started.

"Even though none of us can hear a word you're saying," Ichigo mumbled.

"…we can talk rationally about this," Yoruichi concluded, acting as though she hadn't heard Ichigo's comment, through a small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"Talk rationally?" Renji asked. "Yoruichi, you can't possibly be serious about letting him do this?"

"Renji, you know as well as I do that Ichigo's going to go whether we want him to or not," Urahara commented.

"Hey," Ichigo protested, propping up on his elbows. "'He's' also right here, ya know?"

Urahara turned to give Ichigo a smirk. "I know."

"Anyway," Ichigo glared openly at Urahara as he spoke to him, "How do we go about getting into Hueco Mundo?"

Urahara glanced over at Yoruichi, who gave a slight nod of her head, then continued talking. "It's gonna take me some time, but I can build what's called a Garganta, similar to the Senkaimon, which you used to get into the Soul Society…except the Garganta will transport you to Hueco Mundo instead."

Ichigo frowned. "How long is 'some time'?"

"Four days, at the most."

Ichigo's frown deepened considerably at this, and Urahara knew that the boy was in no way satisfied with this answer.

Yoruichi picked up the conversation from there. "It usually takes up to a week to get the Garganta ready…and besides, while Kisuke's building it, you can focus on healing. You wouldn't last two seconds in Hueco Mundo in the condition you're in now."

Ichigo nodded solemnly to Yoruichi, knowing full well that she was right. He then looked over at Renji, who was watching him warily. "Are you in?" He questioned, knowing that Renji knew full well what he meant.

Renji nodded. "Do you even have to ask? I'm not letting you take all the glory this time."

Ichigo smiled slightly, and then turned his attention to the other members of the Soul Society standing in the room. "What about all of you?"

They all nodded as well.

Finally, Ichigo turned to Chad, Orihime and Uryu. "Well guys…what do you say? You up for another adventure?"

Chad nodded.

Orihime, who was still healing Toshiro, nodded as well. "Rukia's my friend…I want to do anything I can to help her."

Uryu hesitated for a moment, casting his eyes downward and shuffling his feet nervously.

"Uryu?" Ichigo questioned.

Uryu's eyes snapped up to meet Ichigo's questioning gaze. "Of course I want to help Rukia, but I don't know what I'm going to be able to do without my Quincy powers."

"As long as you want to go, I'm sure we can find something for you to do."

Uryu nodded gratefully, throwing a cocky grin Ichigo's way.

"Alright…now that everyone's on board, you all have 4 days to prepare in whatever way you can to journey into Hueco Mundo. We'll meet back here then to discuss the plans further. Anyone have any questions?" Urahara glanced around the room as everyone shook their heads. "Okay, then…I guess we all have work to do."

Two days later, Ichigo lay in the stillness of Urahara's room, unable to sleep.

With the exception of Toshiro, who was still unconscious, Rangiku, who wouldn't leave her Captain's side, and Renji, the rest of the Soul Reapers had gone back to the Soul Society shortly after the decision was made that they would enter Hueco Mundo to rescue Rukia, making a promise to return before the allotted 4 days period was up.

Uryu and Chad had gone home, but called to check in every couple hours to see if anything had changed.

Orihime had been staying at the store, using her Santen Kesshun on Ichigo and Toshiro whenever he could in order to heal their wounds faster.

Ichigo, for the most part, had been lying on the same sleep mat, listening to everyone else bustle about, and trying to focus on healing his body.

But his thoughts kept returning to Rukia…wondering if she was alright, and why Ichimaru had even kidnapped her in the first place…

…which was why he found himself once again lying on his sleep mat, listening to the sound of Toshiro and Rangiku's steady breathing, but unable to fall asleep himself.

He closed his eyes and rolled over onto his side, his breath coming out in a hiss as the movement put pressure on the still-healing stab wound in his shoulder.

"Are your wounds still hurting, Ichigo?" A voice suddenly cut through the silence, making Ichigo jump.

Ichigo turned to the speaker, and from the dim light of the full moon shining through the window, he could see that Toshiro was awake and looking at him with concern.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo whispered excitedly, so as not to wake Rangiku. "It's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," Toshiro whispered back. "What's been happening? How long was I out?"

"Almost three days," Ichigo then went on to explain everything that happened from the time that Ichimaru stabbed Toshiro to then.

After Ichigo got done explaining the situation, he didn't receive a response.

"Toshiro…you still with me?

"Are you your of your mind?" Toshiro questioned, and even though he was still whispering, Ichigo detected the note of disbelief and incredulity in his voice. "You really want to enter Hueco Mundo?"

"Yes," Ichigo said without missing a beat. "I have to go…she would do the same for me."

Another silence filled the room, and Ichigo was getting worried that Toshiro had passed out again when he heard the Captain sigh softly. "I know you have to try, Ichigo. But it's not going to be easy…but, then again, when has that ever stopped you before? And, for the last time, Ichigo…it's not Toshiro…it's…"

"…Captain Hitsugaya. Yeah, yeah…I know." Ichigo finished for him. "Sorry, but I have trouble remembering, especially since that person looks like they should still be in grade school, not a Captain of the Soul Society."

Toshiro opened his mouth to protest, when a girl's giggling filled the room.

"Rangiku!" Toshiro growled out. "How long have you been awake…and stop that giggling!"

Rangiku propped herself up on her elbows, but Ichigo could still see her body shaking with silent laugher. "Sorry, Captain. Good to see you awake and giving orders, sir. How are you feeling?"

"I was feeling pretty good until somebody started teasing me about being in grade school."

That illicited another round of giggles from Rangiku and Ichigo, and after a few seconds, Rangiku joined in.

But Toshiro's laughter quickly turned to pained wheezes as the movement jostled the wound in his stomach.

Rangiku and Ichigo's laughter quickly died down when they saw that Toshiro was struggling to catch his breath.

"Captain…are you alright?" Rangiku asked worriedly, making a move to go over to him, but Toshiro put his hand out, halting her movements.

After about a minute of tension, in which Rangiku and Ichigo watched the young Captain with panic, Toshiro was able to get his breathing to even out, and he smiled slightly at his Lieutenant and Ichigo. "I'm okay, guys...just…not a good idea to laugh yet, I guess."

Rangiku smiled slightly, and then lay back down on her sleep mat. "Well, if you two chatter bugs are done, I need to get back to my beauty sleep."

Ichigo chuckled slightly as he lay back down, while Toshiro just sighed and shook his head, even though he was smirking.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

**The Next Morning:**

Ichigo woke up just as the first rays of sunlight were peeking over the houses in Karakura Town. Even though he had only gotten a few hours of sleep, he felt stronger than he did even yesterday.

Looking around the room, he saw that both Toshiro and Rangiku were still asleep.

He lay on the sleep mat for a few more minutes, trying to go back doze off again, but sleep eluded him.

Not content to lie around for the third day in a row, Ichigo soon decided to try to get up and moving around again.

He sat up fully first, and waited to see how his body would respond to the change in equilibrium. He felt a brief wave of dizziness wash over him, and closed his eyes, waiting it out. But it passed quickly, and Ichigo opened his eyes again.

'Well, I'm not gonna know until I try,' Ichigo thought and, placing his hands, palms down, on the floor, pushed himself to his feet.

Another, stronger, wave of dizziness swept over Ichigo, and if it wasn't for the wall catching him, he would have fallen. He closed his eyes again, as the dizziness got worse and his stomach rolled angrily, and focused on not passing out.

He suddenly felt someone's hands on his shoulders, and opened his eyes to find Rangiku staring at him, worry etched on her face. "Just what do you think you're doing, Ichigo?"

"Umm…trying to walk without falling over?" Ichigo replied wryly.

"Oh yeah? And how's that working out for you?"

"Just fine…thanks for asking."

"Is that so?" Rangiku answered, and Ichigo heard a distinct note of disbelief in her voice. "'Because it seems to me that you were about three seconds from falling over if I hadn't come and helped you."

Ichigo finally relented. Sighing, he said, "Actually, I would have fallen over a lot sooner if my friend the wall here hadn't helped." He smiled. "Thanks, Rangiku. Sorry if I woke you up."

"Nah, I'm usually getting up this time of morning anyways," Rangiku shifted herself so that she got one of Ichigo's arms over her shoulder and put one of her arms around his back. "Can you make it back to your sleep mat?"

"Yeah…but why do you think I went to all the trouble to stand up in the first place?" Ichigo asked, glancing to the side in order to be able to look at the Lieutenant.

"Because you're a stubborn fool ho won't admit that he has limitations?"

"_Because…_I'm tired of lying on that sleep mat when I could be doing something constructive. I can't stand lying around anymore. Please Rangiku? I need to at least do something to help prepare to go to Hueco Mundo, or I'm gonna go nuts."

"Short trip," Rangiku muttered, but she sighed and shook her head, seeming to come to a decision. "Here…help hold up the wall for another minute while I check on the Captain and get my Zanpaku-to, and then I'll help you."

Ichigo smiled as Rangiku propped him up against the wall again. "Thanks, Rangiku…I really appreciate this."

Rangiku smiled back in reply. "What can I say? I'm a softie. Now try not to pass out…I'll only be a second."

She went over to her sleep mat and retrieved her Zanpaku-to then glanced at her sleeping Captain's form.

Apparently satisfied that Toshiro was sleeping and okay, Rangiku made her way back over to Ichigo. She once again got herself situated to best support him, and glanced over to see that Ichigo was pale and sweating slightly. "You okay?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, Rangiku, I'm good. I feel better now that I've been standing for a few minutes."

"Okay, we'll take it slow, and let me know if you need to rest. Better you tell me than for you to pass out and me drop you when you do."

"Your confidence in me is overwhelming."

"Hey, I just call it like I see it," Rangiku glanced at Ichigo again, all seriousness. "You ready?"

Ichigo nodded. "Let's do this."

Yoruichi made her way down the long step ladder to the underground training grounds to check on Urahara and the progress he was making with the Garganta. She wound her way around the numerous boulders and trees till she came to the spot where Urahara was building the massive gate. She stopped walking at the sight before her.

Urahara, standing some 500 feet off the ground on one of the support beams for the giant gate, spotted Yoruichi and yelled down to her. "Hey, Yoruichi! So…what do you think?"

Yoruichi shook her head in disbelief as she started walking again. "Kisuke…how did you manage to almost finish it?" She made it to the base of the Garganta just as Urahara jumped down from it, landing gracefully on the ground in front of her, bending his knees to absorb some of the impact from the drop.

"Ah, it's got a few kinks I still need to work out of it, but overall, it's coming along a lot better than I expected it to."

"Well, I would say," Yoruichi said, handing a cup of tea she had brought down from the shop with her to him. "Considering yesterday at this time you only had little over half of it done."

Urahara nodded his thanks as he accepted the tea. He took a sip and sighed in satisfaction before responding. "Speaking of which, what time is it anyway?"

"Almost 7:00 in the morning. Have you been up all night?"

Urahara nodded as he yawned. "Apparently, I have been."

Yoruichi chuckled slightly. "You get so engrossed in your projects still, after all these years." She shook her head. "Come on…let's go upstairs and get you some breakfast…and then you're going to bed to get some sleep."

They started making their way back towards the ladder that would take them back up to the store.

"So Kisuke," Yoruichi said as they walked. "We haven't really had a chance to talk, since you've been down here working on the Garganta."

"Talk about what, Yoruichi?"

"What do you think about Ichigo's decision to go to Hueco Mundo?"

Urahara stopped, then turned to face Yoruichi's questioning gaze. "It's like I told Renji before. We both know Ichigo would find some way to enter Hueco Mundo, even if we didn't help him. You know as well as I do that once he makes up his mind about something, he's going to do it no matter what anyone else says or thinks…especially when it comes to Rukia's safety. Knowing that, isn't it better for us to try to help his as best we can?"

Instead of answering, Yoruichi asked a question of her own. "Do you really think he has any chance of surviving in Hueco Mundo long enough to rescue Rukia? For that matter, do you believe that Rukia is even still alive?"

"I think that if any one of us has any chance of recuing her, its Ichigo…and as for Rukia…"

A thunderous crash from upstairs stopped Urahara's words in their tracks.

Yoruichi and Urahara glanced at the ceiling, and then took off running towards the step ladder.

Yoruichi reached the ladder first, and even though the ladder was straight up, she took them two at a time, and used flash step to completely skip the last ten steps, reaching ground level before Urahara had even made it halfway up the ladder.

Urahara finally made it all the way up the ladder to find Yoruichi making her way to the other side of the store. He would have laughed at the situation had it not been so serious.

Ichigo and Rangiku were lying amongst some merchandise near the back of the store. Rangiku was currently pushing some stuff off her and Ichigo, who was not moving.

"What the hell do the two of you think you're doing!" Yoruichi demanded, going over to Ichigo and checking him over. "Ichigo? Ichigo!"

"I woke up this morning to find him trying to walk by himself. Rangiku explained sheepishly, as Urahara came over and helped her to her feet, then began cleaning up the rest of the merchandise. "He refused to lie back down, so I tried to help him out here. I felt him start to pass out, so I tried to guide him to the floor, but he's so darned heavy. Sorry, Urahara…I hope we didn't break anything."

"I don't think you did, Rangiku. Even so, don't worry about it." Urahara caught sight of blood dripping from Rangiku's fingers, and traced it to forearm, where her shihaksho was torn and there was a long gash on her arm. "You're hurt, Rangiku."

Yoruichi looked over at Rangiku with concern as she covered the wound with her hand, trying to staunch the bleeding.

"Yeah, I clipped my arm on the corner of the shelf when I tried to stop Ichigo from falling. I'll be fine." Rangiku commented. "How's Ichigo?"

"He's okay. Just passed out again…stupid fool. He's always trying to force himself to do things before he's ready." Yoruichi said, even though there was a note of affection in her voice as she said it. She gathered Ichigo up effortlessly, stood up, and carried him back into the back room and laid him down on the sleep mat, Urahara and Rangiku following.

Toshiro was awake, and sitting up alertly. "I heard a crash…is everything alright?" He noticed his Lieutenant's arm. "Rangiku, you're bleeding! What happened? Are you alright?" He reached for Hyorinmaru, lying beside him.

I'm fine, Captain. It's just a little cut," Rangiku went on to explain about Ichigo wanting to get up and move around, and her failed attempt to help him do so.

By the time she got done explaining, Yoruichi had left and returned, and had begun to clean and bandage Rangiku's arm.

"The fool," Toshiro said, glancing over at Ichigo. "If he keeps pushing himself before he's fully healed, he could do some serious damage."

Yoruichi nodded. "I'd better go and wake Orihime to see if she can heal him again."

"Don't bother…I'm fine," Ichigo's voice carried throughout the room. He looked around and, when he realized where he was, scowled. "Oh great…back to the sleep mat again, I see."

"And on that sleep mat is where you're going to stay until you're actually ready to get up!" Yoruichi replied sternly.

Ichigo's scowl deepened. "You're not the boss of…" He cut off, catching sight of Rangiku's torn shihaksho and the bandaged arm underneath. "Rangiku…your arm…how did you…?" His face screwed up in concentration, trying to remember exactly what had happened, and how the Lieutenant's arm could have been injured.

"She got hurt trying to support you after you passed out," Toshiro answered his anger barely contained as he spoke, but his anger quickly receded, and he sighed, continuing in a much gentler voice. "Ichigo, look…I don't like lying here doing nothing any more than you do, but…you're only hurting yourself…and Rukia…by not giving yourself time to heal properly.

At Rukia's name, Ichigo's anger dissipated, and he slumped back onto the sleep mat. "I'm sorry you got hurt because of me, Rangiku," Ichigo said sadly, his gaze never leaving the ceiling.

The others in the room were momentarily stunned by the abrupt change in Ichigo's mood.

Rangiku recovered first. "Hey, don't worry about it, Ichigo. It was just a scratch." She said softly, trying to be nice, worried over the change in Ichigo's mood.

Ichigo nodded.

An awkward silence lingered until the door opened and Orihime entered.

"Good morning, everyone. How are we this…" she faltered, finally noticing the tension in the air. "Is everything alright? Am I interrupting something?"

"No, Orihime. Everything's alright," Yoruichi said, beckoning the young girl into the room. "If you wouldn't mind, before you continue healing Ichigo and Toshiro, could you heal Rangiku's arm?"

Orihime noticed Ichigo flinch and turn to face the wall at the mention of Rangiku's arm. "Sure," Orihime replied uncertainly, going over and kneeling down across from the Squad Ten Lieutenant, as Rangiku un-bandaged her arm. "Soten Kesshun," Orihime said, touching the ever-present hair pins, and activating her healing power. She held her hands over the gash on Rangiku's arm, and a moment later, her healing shield spread out.

"Thanks, Orihime," Rangiku said sincerely.

Orihime nodded and smiled. "No problem, Rangiku…but what…?"

Rangiku shook her head slightly, nodded in Ichigo's direction, and mouthed 'Later,' to Orihime.

The young girl frowned and looked in Ichigo's direction as well, where he was still lying with his body turned so that he was facing the wall.

A few minutes later Orihime dropped the shield from around Rangiku, and everyone could see that the Lieutenant's arm was completely healed.

"Wow, Orihime…that's amazing," Rangiku exclaimed. "You can't tell that I was ever cut there. Thanks!"

Orihime nodded as she went over to kneel beside Toshiro. "Yes, I'm okay with the smaller wounds, but I'm afraid that the more extensive the injuries, the longer it takes me to heal them," She put up her healing shield around Toshiro, then finally noticed that his eyes were open and he was looking at her from under the orange glow of her shield. "Oh, Captain Hitsugaya…you're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

"Much better, Orihime," Toshiro replied, smiling up at the shy girl. "Thank you for healing me."

"Oh, it's my pleasure," Orihime said, smiling back. "I'm glad that I could help."

The room got quiet again, everyone lost in their own thoughts.

Orihime, while she was healing Toshiro, kept stealing glances over at Ichigo, but not once did he move from where he lay, and with each passing moment, she became more and more worried about him.

After about half an hour, Orihime released her spiritual pressure with a sigh, and the shield around Toshiro disappeared.

With an amazed look on his face, Toshiro sat up, feeling the bandages that had covered the stab wound he received while fighting Ichimaru. While everyone else looked on, save Ichigo, he began to unwind the bandages and when he got down to the last layer and the bandage was finally unwound, gasped as he saw that there was no trace of the wound. "Amazing," he whispered in disbelief, feeling around to his back, where Ichimaru's sword had gone all the way through, and not feeling any trace of the wound there as well. He looked up to find Orihime gazing at him expectantly. "That's quite an extraordinary power you possess, Orihime. I feel as if I wasn't stabbed at all. Thank you so much."

Orihime's smile widened and she nodded. "You're welcome."

Toshiro nodded, and then stood, stretching. "Well, then…I'd better go check in with the others in the Soul Society to see how they're faring. Come on, Rangiku."

Rangiku nodded, and followed her Captain out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Orihime went over and knelt down beside Ichigo next. She opened her mouth to say the spirit chant to activate her powers but was interrupted when Yoruichi spoke her name. Orihime turned around to find the older woman staring at her intently.

"Kisuke and I are going out to the front to get some breakfast," Yoruichi said, staring at Orihime the whole time as though trying to tell her something without saying it aloud. "We'll have some waiting for you and Ichigo as soon as you're done."

Orihime nodded, and then turned her attention back to Ichigo.

She heard the door open and close behind her, and it was then that she realized that she and Ichigo were the only ones left in the room.

Ichigo suddenly spoke, so soft that Orihime almost didn't hear what he said. "Orihime, if you're tired from healing Toshiro and Rangiku, you can wait a little while before you continue healing me. Don't exhaust yourself on my account."

Orihime shook her head, even though Ichigo was still facing the wall, and couldn't see her. "Don't worry about me, Ichigo. I'm not tired." She went through the motions to once again activate her power, and a moment later the healing shield took form and enveloped Ichigo in its orange glow.

Throughout the process, Ichigo continued to face the wall, not saying a word.

Orihime's worry continued to grow until she couldn't take it anymore and she blurted out, "Ichigo, what's wrong?"

She heard Ichigo sigh. "Nothing, Orihime…I'm fine."

"Are you upset with me because I haven't been able to completely heal you yet? If so, I'm sorry. My powers…" She broke off as Ichigo finally rolled over onto his back and turned his head so he could see her. She could now see that Ichigo's face was filled with sadness.

"Of course I'm not upset with you, Orihime…"

Orihime sighed, relieved.

"…it's just that, lately, it seems like I haven't been able to protect anyone."

Orihime didn't say anything, knowing that Ichigo would continue if he wanted to, and she didn't want to rush him. After a moment's silence, he started speaking again.

"Time and again I've watched those that are closest to me get hurt, and every time there hasn't been anything I could do to prevent it. I got the powers of a Soul Reaper to protect my family. I regained my powers, and learned Bankai so that I would be able to rescue Rukia…but now…it seems like the stronger I try to become, the more those closest to me suffer because of it. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if the choices I've made were the right ones." Ichigo closed his eyes, and Orihime could see a tear trace its way slowly down his cheek.

Before Orihime could think of a response, Ichigo let out a shaky laugh and opened his eyes. He turned his head to face Orihime once again and smiled slightly, but she noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He lifted his hands to his face and deftly wiped at his eyes, effectively removing any trace of the tears. "I'm sorry, Orihime. I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't normally get all sappy like that. I didn't mean to unload on you." His smile turned sheepish, and he blushed.

Orihime smiled back at him. "Don't worry about it, Ichigo. You've been through a lot recently."

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, isn't that the truth. I think I'm just tired."

"I understand," Orihime dropped the healing shield and stood a little shakily. "Sorry, Ichigo, but that's all I can do for now. One more time with the Santen Kesshun and you should be completely healed. I think I'm gonna go out and get some breakfast. Do you want me to bring you anything back?"

Ichigo smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, but thanks Orihime. I think I'm just gonna try to get some sleep."

"Okay, Ichigo. I'll be right out front if you need anything." She started towards the door.

"Orihime…"

She stopped and turned to find Ichigo staring at her with a sad smile on his face. "Thanks…for listening earlier. I feel better now."

"Of course, Ichigo…anytime."

Orihime made it out of the room and down the hall before she felt the tears start to roll down her face. She leaned against the wall, bowed her head, and silently cried.

'Oh, Ichigo…'

**Phew. Another chapter down…I think that's my longest chapter yet sorry it's taken me so long to get this one up. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

Once Orihime had left, Ichigo lay on the sleep mat and tried to doze off, but a million thoughts, emotions and images continued to swirl around in his head, and he couldn't shake them.

'Meeting Rukia for the first time…'

'His father and Yuzu lying on the floor lying on the floor, having been attacked by the Hollow…"

'Karin in the hands of the same Hollow…'

'Rukia jumping between himself and the Hollow, sacrificing herself to save him…'

'Rukia, transferring her powers to him in order for him to be able to protect his family…'

The images continued to flash through Ichigo's mind, like a slide show on a projector. It went on like that until Gin Ichimaru's face showed up in Ichigo's mind, the same way he looked on top of Sokyokou Hill.

Ichigo's eyes snapped open at that image, and he figured out why Ichimaru had popped into his head at that moment.

'Ichimaru!' Ichigo thought. 'He's not in Hueco Mundo…I can sense his spiritual pressure…he's close!'

Ichigo sat up, ignoring the slight wave of dizziness he felt from doing so.

He opened his mouth to call out for the others in the front of the store, but thought about it for a moment.

'No…better for me to go by myself,' he thought glumly. 'That way, the only person who can get hurt is me. Now, to figure out a way to get out of here without the others' catching on.

He stood up, and was pleasantly surprised to find that he did not get dizzy or nauseous. He put on the top on his shihaksho, gathered up Zangetsu, and quietly made his way out into the hall. He looked up and down, but saw no exits besides the one out into the front of the shop, where he knew the others were gathered.

'Okay, then…it's never easy,' he thought as he tiptoed down the hall and opened the first door he saw.

The door squeaked slightly as it opened, and Ichigo paused, listening intently.

After a moment, there was no indication that anyone had heard the door, and Ichigo breathed a silent sigh of relief as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Darkness engulfed him, and he groped around until he found the light switch on the wall, and clicked it on.

He found himself in a storage room. Looking around, he found another door at the end of the room, and headed towards it.

'Please let this be an exit…please let this…yes!' He opened the door, and had to shield his eyes from the sunlight that assaulted him. He found himself at the back of Urahara's store.

Ichigo looked around and, seeing no one, took off in the direction of where he senses Ichimaru's spiritual pressure.

'I'm coming, Rukia,' Ichigo thought. 'Just hang on…please hang on for a little longer. I'm coming to save you!'

Orihime joined the group at the front of the shop a few minutes later, after she had composed herself sufficiently, and as surprised to see that Chad and Uryu had arrived while she had been in the back with Ichigo. They sat at the table with Urahara, Yoruichi, Jinta, Ururu, Tessai and Renji and were just starting to eat.

Uryu looked up from where he was adding sugar cubes to his coffee to smile at Orihime as she sat down at the table and Tessai placed a plate of food in front of her. "Good morning, Orihime," The smile faded, and Uryu's face showed worry and he continued to look at the girl. "Is something the matter, Orihime?"

"No, Uryu, I'm fine." Orihime said, smiling at the ex-Quincy as she started eating.

The group ate in silence for the duration of the meal, even though Orihime could feel Uryu's stare on her as she ate.

As Tessai, Jinta and Ururu were clearing the dishes, Toshiro and Rangiku made their way into the shop and sat down at the table.

"The others will be here shortly," Toshiro reported as he and Rangiku sat down.

Urahara nodded as he sat two cups of coffee in front of them. "The Garganta should be ready by tonight."

Toshiro nodded as he took a sip of his coffee, then grimaced slightly and reached for the jar of sugar cubes in the middle of the table.

"Did the Head Captain make any comments to any of the others about their decision to help?" Yoruichi questioned the young Captain.

"Not as far as I know," Toshiro said with a shake of his head. "I spoke with Lieutenant Kira and Captain Ukitake, and neither of them mentioned anything.

"Good," Yoruichi commented, exhaling in relief.

"Do you think Ichigo is going to be ready to go to Hueco Mundo by tonight?" Toshiro asked. "He didn't look too good earlier today."

Yoruichi nodded thoughtfully, and then turned to Orihime. "What do you think, Orihime?"

But Orihime didn't seem to hear her, as she was staring at the door to the back of the shop with a concerned look on her face.

"Orihime?" Yoruichi questioned.

"Hmm?" Orihime turned her attention to the woman at last. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Yoruichi. Did you say something to me?"

"I was just wondering if you thought Ichigo would be healed by tonight, when Urahara plans to have the Garganta ready."

"Oh…yes, I believe he'll be ready." Orihime said. "I plan to use my Santen Kesshun one more time on him this afternoon, and then he should be completely healed."

"Good," Yoruichi said, glancing over to Hitsugaya, who nodded his head, apparently pleased with that response.

"Speaking of which, where is Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked. "He hasn't eaten very much in the past couple of days, and he's going to need all the strength he can get if you all are going to be entering Hueco Mundo tonight."

"He told me that he was going to try and get some rest," Orihime responded, still distracted.

Yoruichi nodded, seemingly accepting that response. "Good. Okay, everyone. Kisuke and I are going to go and finish preparing the Garganta." She turned her attention to Chad, Uryu and Orihime. "I want you three to prepare yourselves as best you can to enter Hueco Mundo." She and Kisuke stood, and she threw a look over her shoulder at Toshiro as they made their way to the trap door leading to the training grounds. "Will you brief the others when they get here?"

Toshiro nodded. "Of course."

Yoruichi and Kisuke had just reached uncovered and were opening the trap door when Uryu's voice rang out from behind them.

"Hold on a minute!"

They both turned around to find Uryu on his feet, eyes closed. Everyone else in the room focused on him as well.

"What is it, Uryu?" Orihime asked, worried. "What's wrong?"

Uryu's eyes snapped open, and he focused on Yoruichi and Kisuke. "It's Ichimaru…he's here."

Ichigo ran through the city streets of Karakura Town, trying to track down Ichimaru's spiritual pressure.

'This doesn't make any sense,' Ichigo thought as he ran. 'Rangiku and the others swore that Ichimaru escaped into Hueco Mundo after he kidnapped Rukia. If that's true, then why is he back in the World of the Living? Why return now? And, for that matter, why isn't he bothering to conceal his spiritual pressure? Even me, who sucks at tracking spiritual pressure, can sense his no problem. Why?' He mulled over this for a moment, and came to the same conclusion. 'This is obviously a trap. Ever since meeting them in the Soul Society, Aizen and Ichimaru have taken an unhealthy interest in me.'

Ichigo's steps faltered as he considered the full implications of his plan for the first time since leaving Urahara's shop.

'So I'm willingly going to walk into a trap set by a former Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads…alone…yeah, that seems like a brilliant idea. But I've got no choice! I have to do this! Rukia's counting on me!'

So Ichigo started running again, ignoring the pain from his wounds and the ever-growing fatigue that was beginning to creep up his legs.

Everyone started at Uryu's pronouncement.

"Uryu…are you certain?" Yoruichi asked, alarmed.

Uryu nodded.

Toshiro spoke up. "He's right. Ichimaru's spiritual pressure has just appeared."

"Alright, here's what we're…Orihime, where are you going?" Kisuke demanded as Orihime rushed towards the back of the store, Uryu and Chad not far behind.

Yoruichi realized the reason for the girl's sudden abruptness. "Damnit…Ichigo," she said, as she and Kisuke hurried after the others, but not before throwing a request over her shoulder at Toshiro. "Contact the others and tell them to get here now!"

Yoruichi and Kisuke entered the hallway just as Orihime, Uryu and Chad threw open the door to the spare room that had been Ichigo's for the last couple of days.

The teenagers faltered, cluing Yoruichi and Kisuke in to what they would find when they got to the doorway as well.

Sure enough, they found an empty room.

Orihime spotted a piece of paper lying on the pillow, and went over to retrieve it. She picked it up and opened it.

Tears filled her eyes as she read what was written on the paper. "Oh…Ichigo…" She whispered brokenly.

The others had moved further into the room, and no Uryu asked the question that he knew everyone else was dreading the answer to.

"Orihime…what does it say?"

Tears flowing freely down her face, Orihime held up the note for the others to see the two words written clearly in Ichigo's handwriting.

'I'm sorry…'

**Thanks for reading. Please review **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

Rukia awoke to a tremendous banging noise.

Her head snapped up to try and find the source of the noise, but she immediately regretted the movement as her head exploded in pain. She closed her eyes and breathed through her mouth, attempting to ease the nauseousness the movement from her head had caused.

Rukia attempted to put her hand to her head to locate the source of the pain, but found that her hands were bound behind her back and around a wooden beam, preventing her from doing little more than wiggle them. She found, as she did, that her hands were completely numb, and she felt the 'pins and needle' sensation as blood rushed back into her appendages.

'What happened? Where am I? Why am I bound to this post?' These and a thousand similar thoughts ran through Rukia's mind as she opened her eyes again, slowly this time, to try and determine her current situation.

Looking around, she found that she was in a large warehouse. It was empty, save for a few wooden crates stacked in one corner and a metal chair, facing her a couple of feet away.

'Okay,' Rukia thought, continuing to look around. 'Now that I kinda know where I am, the next most pertinent question…how the hell did I get here?'

She tried to think back. 'I remember what happened to Ichigo, and the Hollow attack, and then Captain Hitsugaya fought Ichimaru…'

Something about the former Captain's name awakened a fear deep inside Rukia…then she realized why…

'Ichimaru's spiritual pressure…I can sense him all throughout this room!'

She looked around for her Zanpaku-to but was not very surprised to find that it was no longer in its usual spot through her belt. She was, however, surprised to find that her sword was currently suspended about ten feet above her head by the hilt.

'Okay,' Rukia thought as she continued to work her hands in the restraints, simultaneously restoring the circulation and testing them for weaknesses, but whoever had bound her had left little leeway in the rope.

'I think it's pretty safe to assume that the 'who' is probably Ichimaru. But what purpose does kidnapping me serve? Does Aizen want something from me? Or…'

Her next thought sent an icy sliver of fear down her spine, making her shiver. '…or do they want something with Ichigo?'

Ichigo had been tracking Ichimaru's spiritual pressure for a little over half an hour now, and he felt as if he we no closer to finding him and Rukia as when he first left Urahara's shop.

He finally had no choice but to stop and lean against a telephone pole for support, trying to catch his breath and orient himself enough to be able to find Ichimaru and Rukia.

'At this rate, the others are gonna detect Ichimaru's spiritual pressure and get there before me…and I can't let that happen! I'm sick and tired of others getting hurt on my behalf! I will do this!'

His resolve strengthened once again, Ichigo stood up straight, trying to decide what to do next.

'I can't keep trying to just track Ichimaru. All that's doing is running me around in circles and ticking me off. For some reason, it seems like his spiritual pressure is coming from everywhere at once…and I know that's not possible. But what else can I do but keep trying to track it? What else can I…'

The proverbial light bulb went off in Ichigo's head.

'…duh! Come on, Ichigo! Try thinking every once and a while! If I can't track them using Ichimaru's spiritual pressure, then I'll track them using Rukia's!'

Ichigo forced his sore and tired body to relax, and closed his eyes, letting every other thought, care or worry drain out of him, focusing solely on the girl who he owed his life to…the girl who had changed his very destiny.

'Come on…please let this work. I've got to save her. Everyone went through so much in the Soul Society to rescue her from execution. Some of us almost lost our lives. We can't have gone through all of that for nothing…just to lose her now! Please! She's gotta be alive! Let me have been in time to save her!'

Ichigo's eyes snapped open as he felt Rukia's spiritual pressure wash over him like a refreshingly cool wave on a hot summer's day. 'Hah! Take that, Uryu…and he said I couldn't sense spiritual pressure. Guess I showed him.' He couldn't help but thinking smugly.

Ichigo felt his knees weaken slightly when he realized that Rukia's spiritual pressure felt as strong as it usually did, which meant that, for the moment, she was alive and well.

'Thank God!' He thought as he started running again. 'Hang on, Rukia…I'm coming!'

"Damnit!" Yoruichi yelled in frustration, punching the wall beside her after discovering Ichigo's note. "Ichigo, you fool…all you're doing by going off on your own is signing your death certificate."

"That's not how Ichigo sees it," Orihime said softly, standing up and wiping at the tears on her face, still clutching Ichigo's note tightly in her hand.

Toshiro, Rangiku and Renji arrived at the doorway of the room as Orihime continued to speak.

"Ichigo told me earlier this morning that he feels like he can't protect anyone anymore…so him leaving without telling any of us is his way of protecting us."

"Doesn't change the fact that if he goes up against Ichimaru in his condition, he's a dead man," Renji spoke up from the doorway.

Toshiro nodded his head in agreement. "Ichimaru has grown a lot stronger because of the time he's spent in Hueco Mundo. Ichigo doesn't stand a chance against him with the injuries he has now. Hell, I'm not sure he'd stand a chance against him even if he was at full strength."

The door at the front of the shop opened and closed.

"That will be the others," Toshiro commented. "I'll go update them on the situation." He headed for the front, Rangiku following close behind.

"We'll be out shortly," Yoruichi responded to Toshiro's retreating form. She turned to Urahara. "We need to go after Ichigo…since Ichimaru has come back to the World of the Living…"

"Yeah, I know," Urahara replied, knowing what Yoruichi meant even though she hadn't finished her statement, and none of the others in the room knew what they were talking about. "I want the three of you to stay here," he continued, turning to Uryu, Chad and Orihime.

As expected, this pronouncement did not go over very well.

Chad and Orihime argued immediately. Uryu, however, remained silent.

"You can't do that to us, Mr. Urahara," Orihime pleaded, shocked, while Chad nodded his head in agreement. "We can't just sit here while Ichigo is in danger. Please…you've got to let us come with you!"

Urahara shot a glance at Yoruichi, who nodded. Turning back, he sighed and said, "Alright, but I don't want any of you going anywhere near Ichimaru. When we get there, you focus on getting Rukia. Let the rest of us handle Ichimaru. Understood?"

Chad and Orihime nodded.

Noticing that Uryu had remained silent throughout the exchange, Yoruichi turned her attention to him. "Uryu, is something wrong? You've been awfully quiet."

Uryu finally looked up to meet Yoruichi's questioning gaze. "Yeah, Yoruichi…I was thinking…Urahara might be right about me staying behind. Without my powers, I don't think I'll be any help. I don't want to become a burden in an already dangerous situation."

Orihime responded before Yoruichi got the chance. "Uryu, you won't be a burden to us. We're a team…we need you!"

"Besides, you're the most intellectual one out of all of us," Renji commented in a rare moment of praise for someone other than himself. "You know Ichigo and I…we swing first and ask questions later. You being along will be a good balance to our recklessness."

Uryu smiled slightly at that.

"Power isn't everything, Uryu," Chad proclaimed.

"Well, Uryu?" Yoruichi questioned. "Your teammates obviously don't think you're going to be a burden to them. Do you still want to stay behind?"

Uryu shook his head. "Thanks, everyone."

"Well, now that that's settled, let's go see if Captain Hitsugaya has everyone else up to speed." Urahara said, putting action to words as he moved towards the door, everyone else following.

Toshiro and Rangiku returned to the front of the store to find Ikkaku, Yumichika, Soi Fon, Izuru, Kenpachi and Yachiru standing around, some of them scanning the shelves of the store, the others talking amongst themselves.

"Where is Captain Ukitake?" Toshiro asked without preamble.

"He's not feeling well," Soi Fon reported. "He became ill again shortly after returning to the Soul Society. He sends an apology, as well as a wish for good luck."

Toshiro nodded. "Very well then. As you all know, Gin Ichimaru has once again appeared in the World of the Living."

Yachiru piped up from her spot on Kenpachi's shoulder. "Where has Ichi gone to? I don't feel his spiritual pressure anymore."

Toshiro shot a glance at the pink-haired Lieutenant before continuing. "However, there's been a development that's come up since I contacted you all last. Around the same time that we detected Ichimaru's spiritual pressure, we discovered that Ichigo Kurosaki had left the shop undetected. We believe that he has gone to confront Ichimaru in an attempt to defeat him and rescue Rukia Kuchiki."

A murmur went up from the assembled Soul Reapers as they heard this and began talking amongst themselves.

But Ikkaku's voice rang out above the rest of them from where he was standing near the back of the store with Yumichika, Kenpachi and Yachiru. "So, are we going after the traitorous bastard, or what?"

"Well, what do you think, Ikkaku?" Renji asked as he entered the front of the store, followed by Kisuke, Yoruichi, Chad, Uryu and Orihime. "I really hope you don't think we're just gonna leave this task to Ichigo? Or are you too much of a wimp to face a former Captain, baldy?"

Ikkaku glared at Renji from the back. "How about you come back here and say that to me, eyebrow-boy?"

"That's enough, you two!" Toshiro commanded, and Renji and Ikkaku shut up immediately, though they continued to glare at one another from across the room. "We need to move now! As all of you know, Gin Ichimaru is extremely dangerous, not to mention a traitor to the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Our first priority is the safety of Rukia and Ichigo. As for Ichimaru, our main objective is to capture him alive, in order to be able to get information from him about Aizen's plans to utilize the hogyokou. However, you have permission to kill him, if, and only if, you deem it necessary. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone in the room nodded solemnly.

"Alright, then…let's get going."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

Ichigo stood outside of an abandoned building in the warehouse district on the outskirts of Karakura Town.

After finally realizing that he could use Rukia's spiritual pressure to discern her whereabouts, it had been easy for Ichigo to track her to the building he now stood in front of.

'Which is quite surprising, since I've never been known for being able to sense spiritual pressure,' Ichigo thought smugly once again. 'Take that, Uryu.'

The building in front of him was relatively nondescript. It was covered in aluminum siding, and had windows set into it on both sides. The front was consumed by a large set of doors. So it basically looked like every other warehouse that was standing around it.

The only difference between the building that Ichigo was standing in front of and the rest of them was that he could clearly feel Rukia's spiritual pressure emanating from within this building.

However, he could no longer feel any trace of Ichimaru's spiritual pressure. 'Which means only one of two things that I can think of…either he's gone somewhere else, which is probably wishful thinking, or he's inside the building and concealing his spiritual pressure, waiting for me to enter so he can ambush me…and knowing him, it's probably the latter choice.'

'But what other choice do I have?' He continued his inner debate, checking around the perimeter of the building for any traps and even looking up towards the roof. Finding none, he continued walking until he was standing at the large double doors at the front of the building once again. 'He obviously knows that I'm here, or at least close. I'm no good at controlling my spiritual pressure, so he probably sensed me coming and hid his to lure me in.'

He walked to the doors, grabbing the handle to Zangetsu as he went. The white cloth that acted as the sheath to the Zanpaku-to unraveled as soon as Ichigo's hand touched the hilt. He drew the sword and held it by his side, where it would be easy to loft to defend himself if need be, and the touch of it was slightly comforting to him…knowing that he was not, in fact, alone in all this.

'Well…I guess I'm never going to know what the trap is unless I spring it.'

Ichigo put his hand on the handle of the door.

Rukia was starting to get hungry…not to mention thirsty…and she could no longer feel her arms up to her shoulders.

Ever since waking, she had been fully expecting Ichimaru to return at any moment, but now, close to an hour later, she was beginning to wonder if he had just left her here alone to die.

'No…he has to have had some motive for capturing me,' Rukia thought as she again began working the bonds around her wrists, wincing every time the rough rope came into contact with her already sore and raw skin.

She once again focused her attention on her Zanpaku-to hanging above her while she worked at the ropes on her wrists. The blade of the sword was glinting dangerously in the dim light coming in through the grime-covered windows in the warehouse. 'Why would Ichimaru suspend my Zanpaku-to like that? Is he concealing his spiritual pressure and lying in wait until I try to escape, then planning to release the blade in an attempt to kill me? …No, that doesn't make any sense. If he had wanted me dead, he could have killed me while I was unconscious. He's keeping me alive for something…but what? What possible reason…'

A shadow of something running the length of the warehouse above her head caught her attention. She followed the shadow to one end, where it was attached to her Zanpaku-to. Following it the other way, she found a noose suspended just inside the door to the warehouse.

'It's rope,' Rukia thought, suddenly realizing what the shadow was. 'Ichimaru set this up…but why?'

Her attention was brought back to the warehouse by the sudden appearance of a very familiar spiritual pressure.

'Ichigo!" Rukia thought. "I'd recognize that spiritual pressure anywhere!'

A sudden flood of panic washed through her body and her heart skipped a beat as her mind put the pieces together and she finally realized the full extent of Ichimaru's plan.

'Oh, Ichigo…why didn't you ever learn to control your spiritual pressure? With his level of skill, Ichimaru has probably been able to sense you ever since you left Kisuke's shop. That's why I haven't seen Ichimaru in a while. He sensed Ichigo's spiritual pressure and has been lying in wait to spring his trap.'

Her attention on the noose once again, Rukia saw a thinner shadow running from the end of the noose to the nearest window.

'That's the plan,' Rukia thought, her panic kicking up another notch. 'Once Ichigo steps through the warehouse door, Ichimaru will release the rope that's suspending the noose and drop it around Ichigo's neck. Once that's done, he will tighten the noose and suspend the rope once again, effectively strangling Ichigo. And as if that wasn't bad enough, to cut the rope and free himself would be to sign my death sentence, for if he uses Zangetsu to cut himself down, my Zanpaku-to will fall…damn you, Ichimaru…you sick bastard!'

'I can't let Ichigo walk into this trap. No matter what Ichimaru may do to me, I have to warn Ichigo.'

"Ichigo!" She yelled as loud as she could, and her voice echoed loudly around the empty warehouse. "Ichigo, I know you're out there! If you can hear me, please, just leave me here! It's a trap! Ichimaru has a…"

The rest of her sentence was cut off as Ichimaru appeared out of nowhere, his sword in his hand, and brought the hilt down on the same spot as before.

Pain erupted in her skull, and before she lost consciousness, she saw Ichimaru once again disappear and a momentary glimpse of the warehouse door opening, then everything went black.

Ichigo had just turned the handle to open the warehouse door when he heard Rukia's voice from inside.

"Ichigo…Ichigo, I know you're out there. If you can hear me, please, just leave me here. It's a trap. Ichimaru has a…"

Ichigo heard a squeaking sound coming from the roof to his right a split second before Rukia's voice cut off abruptly.

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled; panic flooding him and dulling his senses as he threw open the warehouse, not giving another thought to the noise he heard on the roof.

He stood in the doorway, focusing all his concentration into locating Rukia.

From the light that was being let in by the open door, Ichigo saw Rukia, unconscious and tied to a post in the middle of the floor, her Sode No Shirayuki suspended by the hilt above her head.

Not giving any thought as to why Rukia's Zanpaku-to was suspended above her or where Ichimaru was, Ichigo stepped into the warehouse, solely focused on getting to Rukia to make sure she was alright.

Just as he stepped over the threshold and into the warehouse, he noticed Rukia stirring slightly. "Rukia!" he called out as he took another step into the warehouse. "Are you…?"

At that moment, he felt something drop from above down around his neck.

"What the…?"

But the rest of the sentence fell on his lips as, before he could do anything more than reach up to try to discover what it was that had fallen down around his neck, it had tightened and he as being lifted into the air, being strangled by a noose around his neck.

Toshiro, Rangiku, and the others were following Ichigo's spiritual pressure through the streets of Karakura Town.

"Are you sure this is the right way, Uryu?" Urahara questioned the Quincy as they turned right at his direction and headed down a side street.

"Of course I'm sure," Uryu, who was behind Toshiro and Rangiku leading the group, called back over his shoulder, his tone becoming rather defensive. "With the way Ichigo is letting is spiritual pressure leak out, even a child could follow it."

"It feels like Ichigo's spiritual pressure is strongest in the area of the old abandoned warehouse district," Orihime commented from the back of the group, breathing heavily as she ran to keep up.

"Okay, everyone….be prepared. Keep on the lookout. Orihime, how much further till we get to this warehouse district?"

"Not too far. It's only about five minutes away."

"Okay, as soon as we get there, I want everyone to hold so we can scope out the area and come up with a plan of attack. Everyone clear?"

"I figured that the plan would be pretty obvious," Ikkaku voiced as everyone else nodded in agreement with Toshiro. "Go in, get Ichigo and Rukia out safely, and capture Ichimaru…what's so hard about that?"

"Don't be daft, Ikkaku," Renji called over his shoulder as he ran beside Uryu. "Ichimaru probably has some sort of traps set up in anticipation of us coming. It would be foolish, if not suicidal, to go charging in there without scouting the place out first."

Ikkaku opened his mouth to retort, and then saw the murderous glare that Toshiro was sending his and Renji's way, and closed it again.

"Anyone else have any objections to the plan?" Toshiro questioned a slight edge in his voice.

No one said anything.

"Alright then…just as long as we're all clear on the plan. Uryu, let us know if and when you can pinpoint what warehouse Rukia's being held in."

Uryu nodded.

They ran on, the only one talking being Uryu, who would occasionally call out directions to Toshiro.

As Orihime had said, five minutes later, the group stopped at a chain link fence that marked the entrance to the warehouse district.

Rows of identical buildings started just inside the fence and continued as far as any of them could see.

"Uryu?" Toshiro asked, turning to the Quincy. "Can you tell which warehouse Rukia's being held in?"

Uryu nodded, "It's that one, over there," He pointed to the building that was standing just to the left of the entrance where they were all gathered.

Toshiro scanned over the building with watchful and piercing eyes as he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, quit sure. I can also feel Ichigo's spiritual pressure coming from that building as well. However…"

Toshiro turned his attention back to Uryu as he faltered. "What's wrong?"

"I can feel no trace of Ichimaru's spiritual pressure. It's likely that he's hiding it, but…"

"…that puts us at a disadvantage, yeah." Toshiro finished for him. "The door to the warehouse must be at the other end of the building. Come on."

With Toshiro and Rangiku leading, the group cautiously made their way around the building to the other side. They finally ended up standing right near a pair of large doors leading inside.

"Okay," Toshiro said, turning to face everyone. "I didn't see anything outside on our walk around the building, so here's what we're gonna…"

A scream from inside the building cut off the rest of Toshiro's sentence.

Startled, everyone turned to look at the door to the warehouse as the screaming continued.

"That sounds like Rukia!" Renji exclaimed, starting towards the door, but Toshiro held him back.

"Okay, everyone…new plan," Toshiro commented as he un-sheathed Hyorinmaru and wrenched open the door.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18:**

Before the noose had been completely tightened around his neck, Ichigo was able to get the hand not holding Zangetsu, his left, between his neck and the rope, so when he was hoisted up into the air, there was at least something protecting him from being strangled, even though it wouldn't work for long.

Thankfully, he didn't need long. He lifted Zangetsu above his head and as preparing to cut the rope when a voice spoke from above him.

"I wouldn't be so quick to do that if I were you."

Ichigo looked towards the sound of the voice to find Ichimaru standing above him, on a cat walk, holding a rope in one hand and his Zanpaku-to, Shinso, in the other.

"Ichimaru," Ichigo gasped out, his air supply quickly running out despite his hand being between the rope and his neck. "What do you mean by that?"

Ichimaru merely smiled and pointed further into the depths of the warehouse. "You might want to take a closer look at Rukia's Zanpaku-to before you free yourself."

Rukia had finally come to enough to speak. "Ichigo, don't listen to him. Please…just cut the rope. It's the only way to save yourself."

Ichigo turned his attention from Rukia to her Sode No Shirayuki above her head, even as she continued to shout at him to cut the rope and save himself.

He finally saw the rope connecting the noose around his neck to the Zanpaku-to suspended above Rukia's head, and the 'trap' that she was yelling about to him earlier became apparent instantaneously.

Ichigo locked eyes with the smiling face above him and uttered one word. "Why?"

Ichimaru shrugged and simply answered, "To torment you."

Ichigo then turned to Rukia, who was staring at him with tears in her eyes. He started to lower the arm holding Zangetsu.

"No," Rukia whispered, immediately understanding Ichigo's intentions by his actions. "No, Ichigo!" She screamed at him, struggling with all her might against her bonds. "Ichigo, please…don't be stupid! Just cut the rope…please!"

Rukia could tell that Ichigo was fading…fast.

Zangetsu slipped from Ichigo's numb fingers and clattered to the concrete below as Ichigo spoke. "I'm not…being stupid. I'm just…trying…to save…the woman that I love."

Rukia stopped struggling at his words. "Ichigo…" she whispered, her surprise at his words preventing her from saying anything else.

"I've loved you…since the first moment…I met you," Ichigo's eyes slid shut, and then snapped open again. He was now determined to tell her how he felt…in case he never got the chance to again. "I could…never…live with myself…if I let you die. Not if…I could…have saved…you…" Ichigo's eyes closed again…but this time, they did not re-open, and his body went limp.

"ICHIGO!" Rukia screamed. "No! Ichigo! Open your eyes! Please!" She was crying now, the tears leaving wet tracks down her dirty cheeks. 'I never knew…' she thought, all of the fight going out of her. 'How could I have been so blind?' She lifted her head to see Ichimaru staring down at her. "Ichimaru," She growled out under her breath. "YOU BASTARD!"

One look at Ichimaru's smiling face was all it took for the fire to come back into Rukia. She thrashed against the ropes, not caring when she felt the blood start to flow down her hands. She used the pain in her wrists…and in her heart…to fuel her anger, wanting nothing more than to break the ropes that bound her and wipe that smirk off Ichimaru's face forever.

Ichimaru responded by drawing his Zanpaku-to and cutting the rope that was suspending Ichigo from the ceiling.

Rukia watched as Ichigo's body dropped lifelessly to the warehouse floor where he lay, unmoving.

Faster than she could see, Ichimaru moved from his position on the rafters to about five feet from Rukia. She gasped at his sudden appearance.

"And now…to end this…" Ichimaru said, raising his Zanpaku-to above his head.

Rukia closed her eyes as Ichimaru raised his Zanpaku-to above his head. She didn't have anything left in her that wanted to fight. She didn't care if she died.

In her mind, she saw Ichigo 's lifeless body, lying on the cold concrete floor. 'He died trying to save me…because he loved me,' she thought. 'At least, when Ichimaru kills me, Ichigo and I can be together again.' So she sat there, unmoving, waiting for the final blow that would reunite her with Ichigo…

…but it never came. Instead, she heard the sound of steel clashing. Opening her eyes, she looked up, and gasped at what she saw.

Toshiro as standing parallel to Ichimaru, Hyorinmaru preventing Shinso from coming down and killing her.

Toshiro pushed upward, forcing Ichimaru to relinquish his position, and pointed Hyorinmaru straight at Ichimaru's chest. "Gin," he growled not even bothering to try and hide the anger in his voice. "You're going to be sorry you ever tried to kill me."

Ichimaru smiled. "I would love to stick around and fight you again, Captain Hitsugaya, but unfortunately, my mission here is complete and I must be heading back to Hueco Mundo."

"What mission?" Toshiro questioned.

"To kill him," Ichimaru answered, glancing back over his shoulder to where the others were gathered around Ichigo. "It seems that I failed to do so back in the park, so I had to come up with a more clever way to accomplish it this time."

"So I was right," Rukia finally spoke up. "That was the real reason you kidnaped me. You knew that Ichigo would come to rescue me. Killing…" her voice caught then, and she cleared her throat before continuing. "…killing him was your endgame all along."

Ichimaru nodded. "As much as I would love to stay and chat some more, I really must be heading back."

In the blink of an eye, he was gone. One second he was standing in front of Rukia, and the next he had vanished, only to reappear above them on the catwalk next to the open window.

"My condolences on the loss of your friend," Ichimaru said, snidely, and exited through the open window, his laughter echoing off the walls of the warehouse the only trace left of him.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**

Toshiro stood staring at the open window through which Ichimaru had made his escape, and Rukia could tell that the Captain was itching to go after him.

But instead, he turned and walked around to the other side of the pole that Rukia was bound to and, with one slash from Hyorinmaru, she was free.

Rukia brought her arms around to her lap and rubbed her hands together, trying to restore the circulation in them. She then attempted to stand up, and felt an arm around her waist, supporting her. She looked over and saw Toshiro was the one helping her. "Thank you, Captain,"

Toshiro smiled. "Are you alright, Rukia?"

She nodded, and then focused her attention to the others, who were still gathered around the spot where she knew Ichigo lay. "What about Ichigo?" she questioned the young Captain, dreading the answer but knowing that she had to ask.

Toshiro, however, remained strangely quiet, and just stared at her sadly, so Rukia pushed herself away from him gently and made her way slowly to where she knew Ichigo was. She could fell the tears gather in her eyes, and start to roll down her face again, but made no move to brush them away. 'This feels just like losing Kaien all over again,' she thought, her heart pounding painfully in her chest at the mere thought of her former Lieutenant, comrade and friend. 'But, in a way, this is so much worse than losing Kaien. Even though I never told Ichigo before, somewhere deep down inside, I knew that I loved him…and now we'll never know how that could have been between us.'

She reached the spot where the others were gathered and Ikkaku, Yumichika and Urahara moved aside silently to let her through.

Renji saw her and moved to stand beside her. "Rukia…" he began tentatively.

She had broken through the crowd of people to find that Orihime was kneeling down beside Ichigo, her Santen Kesshun activated and around him.

"Wait a minute, Renji," she said, wanting to turn towards her friend beside her but unable to tear her eyes away from the sight before her. "What is Orihime doing? I thought…but Ichimaru said…that Ichigo is…" she broke off, not able to bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Ichimaru was wrong, Rukia," Renji said, glancing in her direction to gauge her reaction. "Ichigo is alive."

Rukia felt her legs give out from under her, and she would have fallen to the floor had Renji not caught her.

"Rukia?" Renji asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Rukia thought she answered him, but she couldn't hear anything past the rushing sound in her ears. As she slipped into the welcoming darkness, Ichigo was the last person she saw.

Rukia opened her eyes, and sat up, shivering in the old air and wind that bit at her exposed skin.

'Where am I?' She thought, looking around, confused. 'How did I get here…and where is everyone?'

She looked around, and realized that she was lying in the same clearing where they had found Ichigo, unconscious, a couple of days before. It was snowing, and the ground around her was already white. She stood up, shivering violently as a gust of wind kicked up, and took another look around. "Ichigo!" she yelled, cupping her hands over her mouth in order to make the sound travel further. "Renji! Where is everyone! Hello!"

Not knowing what else to do, Rukia started trudging her way through the rapidly falling snow to the entrance to the park. She got to the edge of the stand of trees…and stopped.

"What the hell…?" she whispered.

The skyline of Karakura Town was not there anymore. Instead, Rukia found herself facing row after row of headstones.

Fighting the feeling of dread that suddenly appeared in her heart at the sight, she moved towards the first headstone she came too, reached down and wiped away the snow preventing her from reading the name.

**Ichigo Kurosaki**

Seeing the name, Rukia covered her mouth with her hand and backed up so fast that she fell into the snow.

"No…" she whispered brokenly as she felt tears slide down her cheeks. "No…that can't be. Renji said…"

Just then, a hand shot out of the grave where Ichigo was buried.

Rukia gasped, and reached for the hilt of her Zanpaku-to at her side….but it wasn't there. She tried to move back…to run…to do _anything…_but her body wasn't listening to her. She could only sit there in terror and watch as another hand shot out of the frozen dirt and snow to join the first.

They clawed at the ground, and began to slowly drag the rest of the body out the grave.

Rukia stood up cautiously. The human that came out of Ichigo's burial plot was wearing the same shihakusho that Ichigo wore when he performed Bankai, but she couldn't see their face, for they kept their head bowed.

Rukia took a tentative step forward, "Ichigo?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly out of fear.

They kneeled in the dirt and, head still bowed, plunged their hand back into the grave.

'It's obvious that they're searching for something…but what?' Rukia thought, taking another step towards the person. "Ichigo…is that you? Are…are you okay?" She wished they would say something…whoever it was. The person's silence was unnerving her.

His hand came up from out of their grave, and Rukia saw in it the hilt of a Zanpaku-to. Taking a few more steps towards him, she confirmed what she had suspected…the sword the person what holding was Tensa Zangetsu! 'This has to be Ichigo!' she thought, relief washing over her.

"Ichigo!" She yelled, running towards him now. "Ichigo…oh, thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried! What's going on here? What happened to the town?

She slid to a stop in front of Ichigo, and almost ran into him, trying to find purchase on the snow-slick ground.

Ichigo lifted his head slowly…and Rukia gasped.

Ichigo's Hollow mask was forming on his face, his normally brown eyes turning black with the yellow pupils at the center. As the mask completely covered his face, Ichigo hissed as his grip tightened on Tensa Zangetsu.

"Ichigo…what…?"

Ichigo free hand, the one not holding Zangetsu, reached out faster than Rukia could see…and closed around her throat. Rukia's hand instinctively went up, and as she tried in vain to pull Ichigo's hand away from her neck, she flashed back to the horrible scene of Ichigo being strangled by the noose around his neck in the warehouse.

Ichigo's grip was too strong for her to break free from. However, his grip loosened enough for her to be able to breathe suddenly, and she dropped her own hands, waiting.

The Hollowfied Ichigo's yellow pupils seemed to flash in the dull light of the snowy day as he spoke.

"Your fault…I'm dead because of you."

Rukia felt herself shudder, though not from the cold this time. She forced herself to speak. "But Renji said that you were alive…and you're here, Ichigo. Somehow…you're alive again…you're not dead. Now please…take off your Hollow mask. We need to figure out where everyone else is."

Rukia felt Ichigo's hand spasm slightly on her throat, as if he was barely restraining himself from tightening his grip and strangling her. "You're wrong…I'm not Ichigo anymore. And I can never take off this mask again."

The relief that Rukia felt at seeing Ichigo alive dissipated almost as quickly as it had come. "No…tell me it's not true. That's not possible. Please, Ichigo…you can't be a…"

"…A full Hollow." Ichigo replied, and from one second to the next, he changed.

Now, standing before her as the same full-fledged Hollow that Ichigo turned into when he was undergoing his Visored training.

"Please, Ichigo…please let me go. We can find some way to fix this. There has to be **some **way to change you back."

The Hollowfied Ichigo cocked his head at her, and then released his grip from her neck, allowing her to drop to the ground in the snow. "I doubt that…but I'll give you a head start if you want to run." He hissed out cruelly.

Rukia ran…weaving her way through the endless number of headstones, but she already knew that it was hopeless to run…she would never be able to outrun the fully Hollowfied Ichigo. She heard him growl behind her, and she resisted the urge to turn around to see how close he was to her.

The, all of a sudden, Hollow Ichigo was standing in front of her. She tried to change direction, but her foot slipped on the snowy ground, and she went down, hitting her head on a gravestone as she did.

Dazed, Rukia saw a couple of red drops land in the pristine whiteness of the snowy ground.

She forced herself to roll over onto her back, but didn't have the strength to stand up yet. 'Just let him kill me. If Ichigo is truly dead, then I have no reason to live anymore.'

Hollow Ichigo came up to her, and stood regarding her silently for a few seconds. Then he slashed out at her with his claws, tearing apart her chest.

Rukia screamed.

"Your fault…"

These were the last words she heard, and then everything went black.

"Ichimaru was wrong, Rukia. Ichigo is alive."

Renji spoke those words, looking over at his best friend to try to see how she would react to the news.

Rukia started to fall, and Renji quickly moved behind her to keep her head from hitting the hard concrete floor. He cradled her in his arms, staring down at her. She was pale…even for her, and not for the first time Renji wondered what exactly that bastard Ichimaru had done to her. "Rukia, are you alright?"

Renji watched as Rukia's eyes rolled up into her head, and she passed out.

"Rukia?" Renji questioned, shaking her gently. "Rukia, open your eyes! Rukia…"

Renji felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to find Toshiro standing beside him. "Captain Hitsugaya…"

"Don't worry, Renji, she's okay," Toshiro stated, smiling gently. "She's just in shock. After all that she's been through…then to hear that Ichigo is still alive…her mind just needs some time to process everything. Just give her some time. She'll be alright. We'll have Orihime use her powers on her, just in case there's any damage from anything Ichimaru might have done to her."

Renji glanced down where Rukia's wrists were still bleeding steadily from where the ropes binding her had cut into her skin. However, he could see no other visible signs that Ichimaru had done anything to harm her. Still, it made Renji's blood boil to think that the bastard had done _anything _to hurt Rukia.

Renji tore off strips of cloth from his shihakusho, and used them to bind the wounds on Rukia's wrists in an attempt to staunch the bleeding somewhat. While he did that, he asked, "How is Ichigo doing?"

"Orihime is using her Santen Kesshun on him now. He's doing…about as good as can be expected for someone who survived being hanged." Toshiro kneeled down while he spoke and held Rukia's wrists gently while Renji wound the torn strips of cloth around them.

"Thanks," Renji stated, "So, what's the plan now?"

"We're gonna let Orihime work on Ichigo for about another minute or so, just enough to get him stable, then we're gonna head back to Urahara's. I don't wanna stay here any longer than I have to."

"Afraid Ichimaru might come back if he realizes that he failed in his objective to kill Ichigo…again?"

"No…hat really worries me is the thought that, now Ichimaru knows so many members of the Soul Society are here, he might launch an attack against us." Toshiro said, subconsciously glancing up at the ceiling, as if he could see through the metal roofing to warn against an incoming attack. "Ichimaru's no dummy…with the Gentei Rein restricting our powers, and two wounded to protect…"

"…with a large enough force, we wouldn't have any hope of winning…at least, not without suffering damage ourselves." Renji finished the thought for the Captain, nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, I see what you're saying. Alright," he continued as he stood up carefully, picking up Rukia as he went, and cradling her against his chest gently. "I guess we'd better get moving then."

They stood silently for a moment, then Renji looked around questioningly. "Where are Yumichika and Ikkaku? Did something happen that I don't know about?"

"No, nothing like that," Yoruichi responded, glancing up from consulting with Orihime to answer him. "I sent them outside to keep an eye out in case Ichimaru decides to send more Hollows after us."

"Great minds really do think alike, apparently," Toshiro commented, chuckling slightly.

"No…I just heard what you were saying to Renji just now, and I agree that there's a distinct possibility that Ichimaru might try and attack us…especially if he's still in the area and senses Ichigo's spiritual pressure."

"Do you think that he'll be coming back to try and kill Ichigo again?" Orihime questioned, her worry showing through in her face and the way she glanced down at Ichigo, who was still covered by her Santen Kesshun.

"We can hope that he's back in Hueco Mundo by now. He seemed pretty confident that he had succeeded in killing Ichigo this time." Toshiro said thoughtfully. He turned to Uryu, "Do you sense Ichimaru anywhere nearby?"

Uryu shook his head. "No…I can't sense his spiritual pressure anymore at all."

Toshiro nodded, appearing satisfied with that response. He then turned to Yoruichi. "Is Ichigo stable enough to be moved? I wanna get back to Urahara's as soon as possible."

Yoruichi turned to Orihime, who nodded, and the orange glow dropped from around Ichigo.

Without being told to, Chad came over from his position next to Uryu, bent down, and lifted Ichigo as if he weighed nothing more than a child.

"Okay, then, listen up everyone," Yoruichi called out. "Ikkaku, Yumichika, come back in here for a second!"

They wandered in and leaned up against the doorframe of the warehouse. "Are we finally moving out?" Ikkaku asked impatiently.

"Yes, Ikkaku," Toshiro said, taking the tone that a parent might use with an especially tedious child. "I want you and Yumichika to go on ahead of us and scout out the route for any possible dangers. Use your Soul Pagers to check in regularly."

"Yes, sir," Ikkaku and Yumichika said simultaneously, then used flash step to disappear.

"Yoruichi, Urahara and I will walk point." Orihime, I want you to stay close to Chad and Renji. As for the rest of you, I want you to form a perimeter around the three of them in the middle. Any questions?"

Orihime raised her hand tentatively. When Toshiro looked her way, she said, "Excuse me, sir, but shouldn't I be up front with you, Mr. Urahara and Miss Yoruichi? If something were to attack…"

"If something does manage to slip past Ikkaku and Yumichika, and that's a very big if, we want you close to Chad and Renji so you can protect them, since they're the most vulnerable carrying Ichigo and Rukia." Yoruichi continued gently, smiling reassuringly at the girl.

Orihime smiled back slightly. "Alright, then, you can count on me!"

Yourichi nodded, "I know we can." She turned to Uryu. "I want you to stay towards the back, Uryu, and let us know if you sense anything coming up behind us."

"Got it," Uryu said, looking pleased at finally having something to do.

"Alright, everyone, let's move out."

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, everyone, but I hope that it was worth the wait. I have a choice to make with this story, and I want to get everyone's opinion on it before I make my final decision. Here's the two choices. I can either **

**End this story now or…**

**Continue the story and make a sequel after I'm done with this one.**

**I would really like everyone's opinion on this. Do you all think it's worth continuing, or do you think I should end it with this story and not write a sequel? Please, let me know what you all think. Until next time **


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